Completing my Soul
by Sleepwalker418
Summary: After the third book. Max and Fang meet Shadow and Hunter, 2 avian hybrids. who could possibly be their siblings. What happens next? And will the Flock start a normal life? Romance, drama, family and humor packed into one neat story. R&R plz!
1. Prologue Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride because I'm not James Patterson.**

**Claimer: I _do_ own my new characters.(the ones that are not in the Max Ride series)**

**A/N:This is set 4 months after the third book. **

Prologue Part:1

_Sky's POV_

Brian and I left the car.

"Are we alone?" I asked.

"Yeah...my cousin is acting weird," he answered.

"You noticed too? She gives me the creeps. And what's with your parents?"

"Yeah they're acting weird too,"

There was was silence between us. I looked up at him. He was taller than me. His dirty blond hair covered his hazel eyes. His pale skin tone matched my own.

I sighed. This was my only constant. My best friend. This was Brian. And he was going away.

"Sooo..." Brian said.

"I can't believe my parents. I always go to spring vacation camp with you," I said, whining a bit.

"I know," said Brian,"but remember what you did last year."

I remembered perfectly. The head cheerleader at the camp, Annabell, had been testing my patience. And I had let it slide for the whole week. But on the last day the girl bragged about "bagging Brian" and how "I was replaced". So I, responding to her royal bitchiness, rearranged her facial expression, from one of cockiness to one of pure pain. I smirked.

"So what? She insulted your honor, therefore, provoking me to hurt her," I said, flipping back my long black hair.

"Yeah, but they probably don't want a replay. Actually, to be more specific, she doesn't want a replay and you know whatever the princess wants she gets,"Brian said, crossing his arms and using a mocking tone. I smiled at his antics.

"You know...you should do that more often. It looks pretty on you," Brian blurted out. In the next second his eyes widened and he blushed. He looked away. Man, he looked as shocked as I felt. I gave him a smirk.

"What? Smile?" I said moving my head to one side.

"Well um...Yeah," he admitted,looking back at me. He still had a red tint from blushing which looked kinda cu...was I just gonna say cute...WHAT THE HELL?!This is my childhood FRIEND!

I shook my head and smacked my forehead. It was Brian's turn to smirk.

"And what thought did you want to get out of your head?Hmmm...?" That nosy son of a...

"Shut up!" I shouted, pushing him playfully. We both started laughing.

Then the car started honking signaling that it was time for Brian to go. It brought me back to my sour mood.

Brian grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I smiled and closed my eyes. Why did he have to go?

"Only a week," he mumbled into my ear.

"The inseparable Brian and Sky... separated! Our kindergarten teachers would be keeling over with heart attacks," I said. He chuckled and rubbed my back.

"Yes I AM wearing a bra," I said. I could practically _feel_ him blushing. We reluctantly broke away and I gave him one last good look. Him, being mister formal, was wearing a blue and white button up shirt, beige khaki pants, and brown shoes. Me, being Miss. I like the color black, was wearing a black spaghetti strap top, a blank, to the floor fabric skirt, and combat boots.

"Don't miss me too much." Brian said entering the car and closing the door. I leaned down, putting my hand though the window and grabbing his hand, feeling it for the last time. I gave him a small smile.

"I'll try not to," I answered truthfully,"On two conditions."

"What are they?"

"Don't lose my Maximum Ride books..."

"I'll guard them with my life," he answered.

"...And don't get laid by Annabell," He scowled at me and I chuckled.

"Not in a trillion years," he said. Then he frowned.

"What?" I asked.

"There are guys behind you that keep staring at us," I straightened up, turned around, and saw 3 guys that could have passed as models. I caught one staring at me and winked.

"Well, hopefully they're staring at me," a thought crossed my mind and I shivered,"And not you." His facial expression mirrored my own. Disturbed and horrified.

I shook my head and smacked my forehead. Thought dismissed.

"So anyways..." Brian started.

"Can you hurry up! I wanna go already," Brian's cousin whined. I looked at her. I knew Brian for like...forever and yet I have never met or heard of this cousin.

"'Till we meet again," Brain said in a dramatic voice, oblivious to his cousin. He grabbed and kissed the back of my hand.

Well I only hope I'm imaging that I'm blushing because...well...I don't blush.

I smiled."Well... see you," I reluctantly distangled my hand from his and watched the car go down the road.

"I'll miss you," I whispered. I took in a deep breath of the early April New York City air.

I saw Brian stick his head out the car window, a sad smile plastered on his face. But, a second later that smile disappeared and his face turned into a mask of fury. My right eyebrow shot up and a look of surprise must have crossed my face what strong arms wrapped around my waist.

"Hey _baby_," a raspy male voice said in my ear. Immediately my self defense skills kicked in. I elbowed his ribs and removed his arms from my waist. I whirled around. It was one of the model dudes. And his buddies was coming over. Great. A party.

"Dude! Don't you ever dare do that again!You got that pretty boy! I don't know who the hell you think I am but..." I snarled until one of touchie-touchie's buddies cut me off.

"OOo... she got guts... just like her brother had until Ari ripped 'em out," My eyebrow went up. His buddies started cracking up.

"You must be mistaking me for someone else...I don't have a brother..."

"You shouldn't be calling her baby...it should be birdie," the other one said, oblivious to my earlier statement. His friends cackled and I frowned. Um... was that an insult or what?

"Sky!" Brian called. I turned around. "Sky! Run!"

"Get back in the car idiot!" I heard his cousin yell. I saw his cousin yank him back into the car. He yelled something at her.

My eyes widened. I gasped and covered my mouth.

His "cousin" started getting bigger and hairier. Her fangs elongated. Her hands and nails turned into paws and claws.

"Holy-" I started.

"Birdie...get a close up view," I whirled around to face morons that I have dubbed Snap,Crackle, and Pop and almost fell on my ass.

Because he was morphing too.

I took a step back. This had to be a bad dream. What movie did Brian and I watch last night at his house? I believe it was _Dracula. _So what the h-e-double hockey sticks was going on?!

I pinched myself. HARD.

I was NOT dreaming. This is reality.

Who's twisted reality was this?!

My thoughts jumped to Maximum Ride, but immediately dismissed them. It can't be real.

I, distantly, heard someone screaming in pain.

_Brian, _my mind registered.

As if in slow motion, I turned around. I saw that..._thing_...rake it's claws down Brian's shoulder. I felt like everything froze.

Brian.

My bestest friend in the whole wide world.

Hurt.

"BRIAN!!!" I screeched. The car took off.

And so did I.

I took the cars slow start to my advantage. I grabbed onto the window.

"Brian!" I shouted sticking my head though the window. He turned to me.

"Sky! Jus..." he trailed off. His eyes fluttered shut. His head fell and rested on my hand.

I felt like the world had just stopped turning. Actually, _my_ world **had** stopped turning. I looked up and glared at the monstrosity.

"He...better...be...alive...or...ELSE," I was quivering with tension and rage but my voice was strong.

"OOo scary. Who's she more like?Her brother? Or _his_ sister?" the thing growled at Brian's parents. My eyes widened. Brian has a sister?! I HAVE A BROTHER?! I looked at the thing. It looked sorta like a werewolf.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. Things were just getting freakier and freakier. Brian's mother turned around, a sad smile on her face.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way Shadow," she said. I blinked. Who in the world is Shadow? Isn't she talking to me? Last time I checked my birth certificate, my name was Sky. I shook my head. Things were getting confusing.

"Aw...the bird brain is confused. Some one get her a dunce cap," the werewolf thing said.

"Shut up hair ball!" I said, clenching my fist. Then I noticed something.

My hand's were covered with blood.

Brian's blood.

Rage flooded through my whole being.

"You old WITCH! Your telling me SORRY and your SON is BLEEDING TO DEATH!? ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?!" I shouted angrily at Brian's "mom".She winced.

"You're not," the hair ball said simply, which was enough to tick me off.

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT'S HUMAN OR NOT YOU-YOU **THING**. FOR GOODNESS SAKE I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE **HELL** YOU ARE EXCEPT A _BAD EXCUSE_ FOR A WEREWOLF," I screamed.

There was only 2 things a person can do that can get pissed to this point. Hurt me emotionally and hurt or insult Brian in any way,shape, or form. And pup-girl had just done both.

"Ouch-that hurt...but not as much as that must've felt," the wolf thing said pointing at Brian's shoulder. It licked it's bloody claw. "Yum..._de_licious. Bird blood always makes my day."

I saw red and tackled it.

"Drive dammit!"the wolf thing shouted. Then I noticed something.

The car wasn't moving all this time.

And now it was.

2 words.

Oh. Great.

**Okay tell me the truth was it good? AND NO FLAMES! This is my first story and I will post the second part of the Prologue if I get at least one review. Max and the others will come in after I finish the prologue. Now press that little box down there and review. (Does Bambi eyes) _pretty please..._**


	2. Prologue Part 2

**Me: Oh my gosh. I can't believe people reviewed. I'm so freaking happy right now.**

**Sky: Get on with the disclaimer.**

**Me: I hired you for a reason.**

**Sky: Oh so it's not to keep you from boring readers to death with your ramblings. **

**Me: Shut up and do your job before I dock your pay.**

**Sky: Fine. (points to me) She doesn't own Maximum Ride. Unfortunately she owns me. **

**Me: Shut up (beams at audience) Story time people!!!!**

Prologue Part 2

Sky's POV

Have you ever ridden in a car going about 90 mph on a New York City street where the lower half of your body is out the window, your best friend is bleeding to death, and you're trying to fight a werewolf with a bad hair day?

Well, if you answered yes, you know it really does suck.

"Sky..." Brian mumbled, his eyes opening a bit.

"Oh my gosh. Brian you're okay!" I said relieved. I immediately ceased all pathetic attempts to hit the werewolf thingy. All of a sudden Brian's "father" hit a bump. Which, by the way **hurts** when you're halfway out the car window.

"FUCKING SH... DUDE! Watch it! Have you fucking noticed that I'm halfway out the fucking window! Sheesh!" I screamed. Brian winced, hating it when I cursed.

"Sky...watch...language...parents...near," he managed to get out.

"Well you got some fucked up parents because they ain't doing jack shit to help you," the werewolf mumbled. Well, I'll admit, I chuckled at that. What? It was funny at the moment. I turned my attention to Brian.

"The last thing you should be worrying about is my language," I said, hugging him.

"Awww...how **pathetic**!" Wolfy said. Brian looked at the thing in alarm and then he looked at me.

"Go Sky," he said trying to sit up.

"Yeah Sky, go. Don't worry. You'll see us soon enough," Wolfy sneered.

"SHUT UP YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A WEREWOLF!" Brian and I shouted at the same time. Brian's "mother" turned around. I swear if she tells us to quiet down I will punch her _nicely done_ **nose job** in.

"I thought orders were..." she started.

"Orders are to bring both of them in _**separately**_. _His _sister and _her _brother caused us too much trouble, _especially_ when they're together and I've _observed_ that they are like carbon _copies_ of their _twins_," Brian's "father" said. The way Brian's "father" spoke sometimes had a negative effect on me. Why you may ask? Well, he always stressed out words. Like his voice wasn't annoying enough.

"But..." Brian's "mom" persisted.

"It took us _four_ months to rebuild or labs! Four _months! We_ have to get Shadow and Hunter back to the lab _immediately_!" Brian and I exchanged a look. Twins? We have _twins_? And why the heck are they calling us Hunter and Shadow? To sum it all up: What the _**HELL**_ was _**GOING ON?**_

"Bye bye birdie. See you at the lab," Wolfy growled, shoving me out the window. My feet hit the ground. I hung onto the car door and ran along side the car. Brian's head popped out the window and he beckoned me to come closer .I did.

"Go," he whispered. Uh uh buddy. No way in hell. Or heaven. Or Earth.

"No. I'm not leaving you," I answered. Ick. How cheesy was that?

"Fine," he said sighing. Huh? Since when does macho man give up? Especially in an argument against me? It must be the blood loss.

I felt his right hand cover my left. I looked at him. His breathing was ragged. His hair had blood on it. I felt tears in my eyes. This was my best friend. The best that I could ever have. And he was hurt. And possibly dying.

And I couldn't do jack to help him. I had never felt so helpless in my whole life. My legs were starting to feel numb from running.

"Sky...oh no...please don't cry...please," Brian choked out. Oh no. I saw water in his eyes. Oh great. It became one big sob fest. His hand caressed my cheek and wiped the tears. And then...

He kissed me.

Right on the mouth.

Holy.

Crap. And wait...

Was I kissing him back?

WHAT THE HELL?

His warm lips broke away from mine. I looked at him, shocked beyond belief. He looked at me sadly.

"Goodbye..." he whispered. Huh?

Then I realized why he said that.

He had pried my hand off the window.

"No!" I yelped. I tried to grab it again, but I failed. Oh my goodness, that chivalrous **IDIOT**!

The car started to get away from me and my lungs were aching for air. I couldn't go on. I stumbled and fell on my knees. Tears leaked down my face.

"No-has to be-bad dream" I gasped out. I calmed myself down and stated to breathe normally.

He's gone. Those two words just kept echoing in my head. I looked at the gray sky.

"BRIAN!!!" I screamed, letting out my emotions for once. I got up and stumbled onto the sidewalk. Several people started staring at me.

"What?! YOU WANNA FUCK WITH ME TOO NOW! BRING IT!" I screamed.

Several people decided to stop staring and walk away. One girl mumbled "Crazy girl...doesn't know that we're concerned?"

That set me off."_CONCERNED_?! IF YOU WERE FUCKING CONCERENED YOU WOULD HAVE CAME TO ME AND ASKED 'WHAT'S WRONG'. YOU DON'T _FUCKING_ STARE AT A PERSON WHEN YOU'RE FUCKING CONCERENED!!!" If Brian was here he would be dragging me off. _Brian._

The girl decided it would be best if she kept walking. I heard police sirens and I ran into an alleyway.

"Well...I guess somebody got too concerned," I said, my voice hoarse from screaming. I stumbled through the alley and stopped near a garbage bin and leaned on it. My day couldn't get any worse. And I felt _so weak._

Poor Brian. A tear fell down my face. Where are you? I could still see him: screaming in pain, sad smile, him kissing me.

"Hey birdie," _That _snapped me out of my reverie, "Don't be so down about your mate._ I'm better,_" I whirled around and saw Snap, Crackle and Pop dressed in police uniforms. My hands clenched into fists. They were back into human form.

"Hey did you get a life while I was gone?" I snarled. Crackle was holding a baseball bat and was swigging it in his hand. Uh oh.

"Can't go shopping while I'm on the job. But I will once I get you," Crackle said.

"Ha. Never. And you just dissed yourself moron," I said. I started backing up.

"Enough of this. Let's just get the girl and go," Snap snapped.

"C'mon. I'm just having a little fun," Crackle said.

"Can we get this over with. I'm hungry," Pop said. Crackle rolled his eyes. I banged into something.

A wall.

Snap, Crackle, and Pop roared with laughter. Then, faster than my eye could follow, Snap and Pop pinned my arms to the wall. Snap covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream. As if. I couldn't move.

I was trapped.

Great.

Crackle came in front of me, still swinging that damn baseball bat. "Nighty-night _birdie."_ He growled. What was with that name _birdie?_ But before I could ask he swung the baseball bat at my head.

And my world went dark.

Man...I hate _Rice Krispies. _

**Before you ask NO, Sky is NOT dead. The Erasers knocked her out so it could be an easier trip to the Institute for Higher Living (because it was one of the only Schools not destroyed by kids but more on that later) Anyways I hope you liked this chapter and please review. The Flock will come in on the next chapter.**

**I hope you enjoyed:)**


	3. Rock, Paper, Siblings?

**Me: OMG 5 reviews...I'm so freaking happy right now!**

**Sky: No she is not being sarcastic. She's only evil and sarcastic to me.**

**Me: (glares at Sky) Do your job**

**Sky: She doesn't own Maximum Ride but she owns Me and Brian**

**Me: I think Brian's going to do the next disclaimer. You got to much 'tude...**

**Sky: And who made me that way?**

**Me: Shut up.**

**Sky: On with the story**

**Me: That's my line.**

**Sky: Whatever.**

Chapter 1:Rock, Paper, Siblings?

_3 months later..._

Max's POV

"Alright Fang, it's just you and me," I said, crossing my legs. I cracked my knuckles and Fang winced.

"I still say it's not fair. I'm blind," Iggy said. He was sitting on a chair with Total on his lap.

"Ssh...Iggy I want to see this," Total said.

"No one's stopping you," Iggy snapped at him.

"Stop it you two," I hissed. I turned back to Fang who was as impassive as always.

"Ready?" I asked. He nodded. I rolled my eyes. Some things never change, no matter how many months go by.

"Okay...rock, paper, scissors, and shoot," I called. Yes, Fang and I were playing rock, paper, scissors in a hotel. Why, you, as my faithful reader, may ask? **(A/N: For some reason that sentence had me confused for a few seconds)** Well, the younger ones wanted to play and I figured, if Angel was not controlling someone's mind, and if Gazzy and Iggy weren't building bombs, and if Nudge and Total weren't having a talking contest then it was fine.

Right now, Fang and I were at the final round. Whoever wins gets whatever they want from the person that loses.

Make Fang do whatever I want? That would be a great change of pace.

Anyways, back to the contest...

I had drawn out paper. He had drawn out rock. I smiled. Angel and Nudge cheered while Gazzy and Iggy groaned.

"One for Max," I gloated, shifting my position a bit.

"Don't get your hopes up. It's two out of three," Fang said.

"Alright then...rock, paper, scissors and shoot."

I had used rock, while Fang used paper. Angel and Nudge groaned, while Gazzy and Iggy cheered.

"And one for Fang," he said smugly. I glared at him.

"OOo and the Fangster has tied the game. Will he win the next round, or, will **the,** Maximum Ride, come out triumphant," Gazzy said, using his sports announcer voice.

"Alright, if Fang wins that would be weird because he would get Max to do whatever he wants and Max never does what anyone wants. Gee I wonder why she does that maybe it's because-" Nudge started until I gave her the "Nudge shut up" look. She stopped and looked sheepish. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I looked at Fang, "Ready?" He nodded and I almost whapped him. Would it kill him to say something?!

"Alright...rock, paper, scissors and shoot." We both play scissors. I sucked in air while Fang sucked his teeth.

"OOo a tie..." Gazzy announced. Everyone made some sort of sound and leaned in closer.

"Rock, paper, scissors and shoot," I called. I did scissors again, while he did paper. The girls stated cheering and gave me high fives. Total gave me a umm... high paw.

"Aw c'mon Fang," Iggy said.

"I let her win," Fang muttered.

"Yeah uh-huh...sure," I said. Fang glared at me. I smiled innocently. Soon after I sent the rest of the Flock to bed. I had to share a room with Fang.

We were at _another_ hotel. Our routine was get a hotel, find information, and move to another hotel.

Call me crazy, but it does get boring.

I looked at the bathroom where Fang was taking a shower. These past 7 months he looked like he's been meaning to say something. But he never does.

I had taken my shower in the morning, so I was dressed in a tank top and boxers. I looked at the information we had just received.

Recently, Iggy, being our genius pyro, had cracked the code.

Shocking, huh?

I looked at the page labeled **M10116g25(Max)**. All I got was the usual height, speed, capabilities list. I rolled my eyes and went to the next page. On this page was 2 pictures in black and white. One was of me, in my cell in Germany.

Gee whiz. I looked like crap.

The other one was of a boy standing ramrod straight. For some strange reason, he reminded me of Jeb. Underneath his picture was his name and number. **M21227h36(Hunter)**.

Ooh scary name. Note sarcasm. He was 15 like me and as tall as Fang.

And he was an Avian-American.

Great.

Underneath that, it said relations to any other experiments. The box was check off yes and it said: **Fraternal twin of M10116g25(Max)**.

Holy crap.

I re-read it. My mouth went dry and I started shaking.

"No it must be a mistake...a typo," I mumbled. I turned the page to see if there was more information. Instead there was 2 more black and white pictures. One was of Fang kicking a flyboy at the base of it's spine. The second picture was of a girl about my my height. She was also fighting a flyboy, kicking it in the same exact spot that Fang was. Her name was **K1483710Z(Shadow). **There was somethings wrong with her picture.

First of all, she was wearing the clothes that the School gives experiments.

There was some sort of liquid on her hands which I deduced to be blood. She wouldn't have blood on her hands if she was fighting flyboys. Guts, yes, but not blood. Machines don't bleed.

Unless they weren't machines.

I compared her and Fang and almost died of shock.

She really did resemble him. I mean by a lot.

I looked at the relations box, already having that sinking feeling.

The box was checked yes.

It said: **Fraternal twin of K0372609A(Fang).**

I had finally noticed that Fang was shaking me and it wasn't just me. How? Because Fang was now saying something. I snapped out of my reverie.

"Max!" Fang said. He looked concerned. Wow. I must of scared him.

"Fang," I said, still dazed. I looked at him and-I'll admit- almost drooled. His hair was still dripping wet. And the water drops were traveling on his chest which was very muscular. The only flaws was the small pink lines from when Ari had sliced him up 10 or 11 months ago.

I guess he caught on to me staring at him, and **why** I was staring at him because he smirked and said, "What? Am I tempting you too much?"

I could feel my face turn red, "Shut up!" I stood up and hit him with a pillow. He had blocked it with his hand.

"Now now Miss. Ride there will be none of that now," He said wagging a finger at me. I growled and sat flopped back on the bed and stared at the pillow.

What was that? Since when do I...whatever he just surprised you. Get a hold of yourself Maximum!

"Okay in all seriousness...what's wrong?" Fang said crossing his arms over his chest. I'm starting to think he does that on purpose. Since I felt my voice would betray how worried I was I, firstly handed him the papers about me and Hunter. He scanned, blinked, read it then blinked again.

"Oh...is this real? I mean he **does **look like you but there is always that off chance that the whitecoats at the School had been playing around with DNA again," Fang said.

"I don't know Fang. I've been asking myself the same question," I answered truthfully.

"Have you spoken to Jeb yet?" he asked. That's right! I could ask my father about my long lost twin.

"Nope, not yet," I said. Fang gave me this strange look.

"And why not?"

"...There's...**other **information," I said, handing him his pictures.

Fang scanned the paper. His eyes widened. He opened his mouth. Then shut it. Then opened it again. And shut it.

"Ask Jeb," his voice was hoarse and a little hopeful. Fang? Hopeful? Oh brother. Or should I say sister?

_Hey Jeb,_ I called to him in my mind.

_Maximum, I already know about the situation and I'm trying to find out what I can. _Wait a second... did he just snap at me?

_Well, excuse me. _I snapped right back. _But I just want to know...how can you__** not**__ know?_

_I was blocked out of direct contact and observation of you during your early years because of the sole fact that I was your father._

_And how about Fang?_

_At the time I was assigned to a mission elsewhere to get me away from you. When I got back, Fang's project was well under way. I was assigned to Iggy's project._

_Does Iggy have a twin?_

_No._

_Again I have to ask...how can you **not **know? _I could hear Jeb sighing, frustrated. _I mean, weren't you like the Directors right hand man._

_No I wasn't. I was, according to her, too secretive. She had put me in charge of the Flock and a group of Erasers, but that's it. Now if you'll excuse me..._

I blinked. Fang was just staring at me. "Well..."he said. I could nervousness just running off him inwaves.

"He says he doesn't know because he was excluded from our projects," I said.

Fang sighed, "Alright-we'll deal with this in the morning. In the meantime let's get some sleep," We both went to our beds and Fang shut off the light.

I could tell Fang didn't sleep a wink.

I sure as hell know I didn't.

_**The Next Morning**_

I guess I must've dozed off because I woke up to Fang shaking me. I opened me eyes and saw Fang fully dressed and alert.

"Rise and shine," he said with fake enthusiasm.

"How can I shine when I barely got a wink of sleep," I grumbled, tearing off the covers,getting up and stretching.

"Save the sob story," Fang said, his back towards me. I whapped the back of his head. Fang turned towards me as I retrieved my backpack.

"You're abusive, you know that?"

"Who? _Moi?" _I said, playing innocent. He glared playfully at me. I smiled and entered the bathroom. I did my morning routine, which I'm not going to bore you with the details, but lets just say I emerged from the bathroom minty clean and fresh. I scanned the room and saw Iggy sitting on my bed and Fang was sitting on his own.

"Did you tell him?" I said, interrupting what seemed to be an awkward silence. Fang looked at me.

"Not yet," he replied.

"Told me what?" Iggy said.

"We may have twins," Fang said, cutting to the heart of the matter as always.

Iggy looked stunned."Really?"

"Yeah. The papers that we had gotten had the information and even pictures," Fang replied. I tossed my backpack and it landed next next to Fang's.

"Wow dude that's great...tell me how they look," Iggy said.

"Well they're basically carbon copies of us except Fang's twin is a girl and my twin is a boy," I said.

"Wow..." Iggy said amazed.

"We asked Jeb if they're the real deal but he didn't know," Fang said.

"What are their names?" Iggy said. For some odd reason, he didn't seem doubtful at all.

"Hunter and Shadow...Aren't you concerned about them being real or not?" I asked.

"I don't think the school had the time or the money to get your DNA, translate it to the opposite sex, and age them to your present ages," Iggy said. A moment of silence ensued as we digested this.

"He does have a point," Fang said.

"Yeah..." I said, and for the first time, I felt excited about the information. _I have a twin brother!_

"Uh-oh," Fang said, crushing my excitement.

"What?" I asked warily. When Fang says uh-oh, it's never good.

"It says that they were brought to the Institute for Higher Living and was injected with serum A17...which doesn't sound good,"

"You two have to relax a bit. If they are related to you guys even a little bit then they probably hate the school and would never join. It's in their blood," Iggy reassured us.

"You're probably right. I mean what experiment in their right mind would actually _like_ the school," Fang said. Which led us to our next question: Are they in their right minds?

"When are you going to tell the others?" Iggy asked. I looked at Fang for a suggestion. He gave me a it's your call look.

"After breakfast," I answered. Iggy got up and stretched. He had a mischievous grin on his face.

"Angel and Nudge got the room you two were supposed to have," he said.

"Why do you say that?" I said.

"It had a single bed," I felt my face burn and I glared at Iggy. We both slapped the back of Iggy's head at the same time.

"Ow! What was that for?" he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"For having your mind in the gutter," I said simply. Iggy huffed and went out the door.

Then, the door reopened and Iggy peeked his head through.

"I'll get the Flock to meet in my room...don't elope while I'm gone." My eyes narrowed. Was it just me or was Iggy doing a little more Max and Fang teasing than usual?

I was about to smash his head with the door when Iggy's eyebrows shot up and he abruptly shut the door. In the the next instant, the place where Iggy's head had been was replaced with Fang's sneaker. It hit the place were Iggy's head had been with a _**thunk**_.

I heard Iggy chuckle and call out "You take off your shoe too loudly Fang," I was speechless as Fang went to the other side of the room and bended over to put on his shoe back on.

"That kid..." I said and trailed off.

"Is going to get his butt kicked. Preferably by me," Fang said. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Then the door crashed into Fang with such force he fell on his side. I heard curse darkly under his breath. I winced, hating it when he cursed.

"Sorry Fang," I heard Angel say.

"Language!" I snapped at Fang. Angel stepped around Fang, close the door behind her, and rush to me.

"Max Max! I have to tell you something," Angel said.

_**A few minutes earlier:**_

Outside POV:

Angel walked out of my room and heard Iggy thinking _When will that boy..._.

Her concentration broke off when she banged smack dab into a person.

She looked up. "Oh, I'm sorry."

The boy smiled down on her, "No harm done." He had pale skin, dirty blond hair** (A/N: Sounding familiar?) **and wore dark sunshades, (indoors!?) a gray sweat suit and white sneakers. For some reason he gave off the same familiar vibe as Max, Jeb, and Dr. Martinez. But mostly Max, Angel thought. Then she noticed his clothes.

Angel shivered. That was the uniform for experiments at the school. And he had that ...antiseptic...

No, she resolved. All DNA recombinets are dead...right?

And the weirdest thing about him was...

Her jaw dropped and she quickly shut it.

She couldn't read his mind. And every time she tried it reminded her of Jeb's mind. She felt her stomach drop.

"You alright?" the boy asked.

"Yeah. Sure," She cocked her head to one side. "What's your name?"

"Hunter," he said. Angel realized that she could barely read his emotions. He wasn't lying to her. A girl peaked her head out of the door.

"Um...oh hello," The girl said noticing Angel for the first time and smiling politely.

"Hi," I said sweetly. She had long black straight hair and also had on sunshades.**(A/N Hmmm she's also familiar Mwa ha ha...Sorry I'll stop now)** The girl gave off the same vibe as Fang. And Angel also couldn't read the girl's mind.

What the h-e-double toothpicks is going on?

"What's your name little one," the girl asked. Her voice is soothing, it reminded Angel of when Jeb had just "died" and Max had been too tired after a whole day of trying to get the Flock to cooperate. So Angel had dared to ask Fang to read her a bedtime story.

She remember him being confused and him thinking _Why did she ask me? _

Angel had answered, Because your like a daddy now. He had been shocked. But he picked up the book anyways and read the story and ever since then she had fallen asleep, hearing his deep yet soothing voice **(A/N We are assuming he didn't read to her when his voice was changing)** knowing that she not only had the best mommy in the world but she also had the best daddy in the world.

And then it all changed when those stupid Erasers took her away. Fang never had a chance to read or tell her a story again.

"Oh...it's Angel," Crap, she thought. I didn't give a fake name. Oh well, she thought, I don't want to lie to them. Lying to them feels like lying to Max and Fang. And she would never lie to them. So she wasn't going to lie to these two.

"Your name fits you," Hunter said.

"What's your name?" Angel asked the girl.

"Shadow," she answered.

"Well...I'm going to speak to my brother and sister, so I'll see you soon," Angel said in her little girl voice. Then she heard something from Shadow's mind.

_Aww...she is so sweet. _Angel waved goodbye and went straight to Max and Fang's room. She had to tell them.

_**Present Moment**_

Max's POV

"What is it?" I asked Angel.

"Well I was in the hallway and I bumped into someone and his name was Hunter and I couldn't read his mind and and..." I cut her off. Since when did my baby turn into Nudge? _And did she say Hunter?_

"Take a deep breath Angel," I said She obeyed. "And let it out."

Fang came next to me. "Tell us what happened and leave out the fluff."

"I met two kids named Hunter and Shadow and I couldn't read their mind and they were wearing the School's uniform," Fang and I exchanged a look. Those names sounded awfully familiar. I felt my stomach do flip flops.

"Do you know them?" Angel asked.

"No, not exactly...can you show them to us?" I said.

"Okay," Angel said. She opened the door and led us to two people their backs to us.

"Hey Hunter. Hey Shadow,"Angel said. Shadow turned around first. I felt Fang stiffen next to me.

The girl was the life sized version of the picture.

And she was the girl version of Fang.

The boy turned around and smiled.

Oh brother.

I recognized that smile._ It was mine._

"Hi. I'm Hunter. And you are?"

Speechless.

**Alrighty then. Evil cliffie I know. But don't worry I'll post soon. **_**If you review...**_


	4. Things happen to us, and only us

**Me: MY REVEIWS HAVE HIT THE DOUBLE DIGITS! WOOHOO!**

**Hunter: I think you busted my eardrums.**

**Me: Just do your job.**

**Hunter: What?**

**Me: (Holds up sign that says disclaimer)**

**Hunter: Oh. Okay. My boss doesn't own Maximum Ride. Just me and Shadow. Who can have her job back.**

**Me: Oh fine. Any ways on with the story.**

Chapter 2: Things only happen to us

Max's POV

Luckily I gained my composure before Hunter asked what was wrong. I copied his exact smile.

"My name's Max and this is Fang," I said. Then I realized...

OH CRAP! Dammit! I just blew our cover RIGHT OUT THE FREAKING WINDOW!

I gulped and I felt Fang stiffen even more then possible. Oh goodness, he's going to kill me.

"Hey," the girl, Shadow, said. I guess all of the members of Fang's blood family were into those one word answers.

"Quite a sweet little girl you have here," Hunter said, smiling at Angel. Angel smiled back sweetly.

_He reminds me of you...what's going on? _Angel said telepathically.

_Tell you later, _I thought back.

"Yeah...well we're just waiting out here for room service...hopefully that's him," Hunter said, while Shadow stood there silently, next to him. They both looked at the elevator. There was a guy with a cart of food in the hotel's red uniform He was staring at the floor.

"Yeah. Hopefully..." I heard Shadow mutter. I gave Fang a she-reminds-me-of-you look. He nodded. The guy stopped a few feet away from us.

_Max..._ Angel warned.

The guy looked and gave Shadow a hungry look. My stomach dropped. Why can't things just stay dead sometimes?

"Hey _birdie_," the hotel worker growled. He rolled the cart at Shadow. It hit her, but as a regular human would've went flying if a cart hit them at that speed, Shadow stumbled_ back a few steps._

Now here's the question of the day. _Is that a good or a bad thing?_

Hunter had run over faster than I had seen a _human_ move, punched the guy in the face and delivered a round house kick to the guy's thigh which made him fall over.

_He's an Eraser Max! _Angel screamed in my head. Hunter had already jumped on him and was delivering punches to the Erasers face. I heard the rest of the Flock come out of their rooms.

"HUNTER! WATCH OUT!" Shadow screamed. But it was too late. The Eraser was transforming way faster than I have ever seen an Eraser transform. The Eraser had grabbed Hunter by his throat and was strangling him. Shadow ran over, and stomped on the Erasers face. It cried out and let go of Hunter. Hunter rolled away, limp and unconscious.

The Eraser, now angry, swiped at Shadow's feet. She toppled onto her side. Her sunshades skidded across the floor. The Eraser tried to jump on her but Shadow rolled onto her back and kicked out at the Eraser. The Eraser flew onto his back. Shadow looked up and noticed that we were just staring at her.

I looked at her eyes and a gasp escaped me. I heard the others gasp behind me and Iggy yelled, "WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"

Shadow had silver irises.

I think that gave away the fact that she was an experiment from the school. Other than that little fact that she could kick Eraser butt.

"GET OUT OF HE-!" She yelled at us. But then the Eraser put her in a choke hold. And his teeth went towards her neck. I saw a black blur pass me and Fang gave the Eraser a taste of his choke hold.

"Angel! Nudge! Check on Hunter!" I shouted.

"Hunter's here!? Where?!" Iggy said.

"Gazzy! Fill Iggy in!" I ordered. I turned to Fang, who strengthened his choke hold by grabbing his left wrist with his right hand and was yanking hard. Shadow sunk her teeth into the Eraser's arm. The Eraser let out a choked cry and loosened his hold on her. She got away from the Eraser. Fang jumped away from it.

It de-transformed into human form and stumbled away shouting, "I'll get you back birdie. You and your _**brother**_"

Shadow stiffened and turned slowly to look disbelieving at Fang."Are you-"

"Shadow!" She whirled around and ran to Hunter, who had scrambled up.

"Are you hurt?" She asked checking his neck. He shook his head.

"Your shades..." he said trailing off. The laid on the ground, smashed.

"Forget about them. We have to go before the Erasers come back!" She said. They ran to their room. Fang and I followed them. Shadow held two backpacks and Hunter was_unlatching the window._

"Wait!" I called out. They couldn't go. There was only two of them against the School and Erasers and as you saw err...read the School didn't expect us to be here because if they did they would've sent a S.W.A.T. Team of Erasers.

"I'm sorry. We have to go," Hunter called.

"Thanks Fang. For earlier. You're strong. For a human." Shadow said. I almost laughed at the statement.

"Bu-" Fang started.

"Let's go." Hunter said cutting him off. Shadow started towards him. That's when I made one of my famous snap decisions.

"WAIT! LOOK!" I screamed. They both whirled around, a bit annoyed. I spread my wing a bit. Their eyes widened. And widened.

"Oh-" Hunter started.

"Well. That changes things." Shadow said, changing her amazed expression back to one of impassiveness. Hunter stepped off the window sill and took off his shades. I felt my eyes widen. His eyes were an orange-gold color.

"You're right there." He said agreeing with Shadow. I decided to do some investigating of my own.

"I showed you mine. Now you show me yours. Assuming..." I said. Hunter spread his right wing. It was the same color as his eyes. Orange-gold. I looked at Shadow.

"Only if he shows me his. Assuming..." she said, gesturing to Fang. He shrugged and spread his jet black wing. In response, she spread hers, which was the same color as her eyes. Pure silver.

"Are all of you..." Hunter said, trailing off.

"Yeah. I didn't fully introduce myself earlier. I'm Max. Maximum Ride." You can just guess who said that.

"You already know my name," Fang said in that polite way he had.

"Hey. I'm Iggy and confused because I really don't get what's going on because no one has filled me in _knowing_ that I'm _blind_," Shadow blinked.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Shadow," she said taking his hand, shaking it, and putting an end to Iggy's rant.

"Oh your name is cool. My name is Nudge but I like your name too. You know how they say a person's name often describes them? Does your name describe you? I mean, like your name describes Fang a bit, but for some reason you remind me of Fang. And you also sorta look like him too. Do-"

The Gasman cut her off by putting his hand over her mouth and said " Hey I'm the Gasman."

"The Gasman...?" Hunter said, questionably.

"Don't ask unless you want a demonstration," Iggy warned. It seemed like the Flock was warming up to them.

"You already know me," Angel said smiling sweetly. It was Hunter's turn.

"Nice to-" Hunter started and then froze. Shadow looked at him with an expression that asked what's wrong.

He choked and cried out. He looked pained. He started to fall to the floor.

"No!" Shadow cried out and caught him. "Hunter! **Hunter**! SPEAK TO ME!" She looked at us wide-eyed , worried, and a bit scared.

Something was incredibly wrong.

_Already._

**Uh oh...well if you recognize the last two lines then you know what's wrong. So, for all you people who don't recognize the last lines and/or want to know what happens to Hunter...well you know the deal. Review:)**


	5. Uncovered Past

**Me: WAAAAAAAAAAAH!**

**Hunter: She's a little sad because only 1 person reviewed for her last chapter**

**Shadow: Thank you maximumride4ever. If it wasn't for you I think she would've been on the floor screaming and/or ended the story which would've ended our lives.**

**Me: I know the (sniffle) last chapter was short(sniffle) but you still (sniffle) gotta review.(sniffle) Reviews are love.**

**Hunter: (nods head in agreement) Alright then so she doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Shadow: That's why Max and the Flock aren't here comforting our author...on with the story**

**Chapter 3: Uncovered Past**

Max's POV

Shadow dragged Hunter, who was clutching his head, to the bed and laid him down.

"Do any of you know what's happening to him?" she asked. Her voice had a hint of hysteria in it. Hunter's eyes were streaming with tears.

"I think I have an idea," I said, quietly going towards her.

"You do! Is he going to live? I swear if the Institute-" she started. Hunter cried out in pain and she flinched. I looked back at the Flock who were standing there stoically. This obviously was bringing back bad memories to them. It hurt me to think of them experiencing it, now, all over again and I was instantly angered.

_Jeb...you better stop hacking into Hunter's brain right now or else, _I thought to Jeb.

The voice stood silent, obviously busy at the moment. Oh well, I hope it made him overload. Or crash.

"Please Max," Shadow pleaded, obviously at her wits end. "Tell me if he's going to be okay."

"Don't worry too much. He's going to be fine," I reassured her.

"Is it the voice?" she muttered, only meant for me to hear. My eyes widened. How the in the world did she know about the voice?

"How?" Was all I managed to get out. She got up and went to her backpack. She opened it and pulled out all 3 books in the Maximum Ride series.

I exchanged a look with Fang. Oh goodie. I turned to the Flock.

"Alright...Nudge, go check on Total. Angel, go with her. Iggy, scavenge for breakfast and Gazzy, fill Iggy in. Fang, go get the papers," I ordered. The Flock went out the room. I turned back to Shadow, who was repacking the books. "So. You know my story. Tell me yours."

She sighed. "Okay." Fang stepped in the room and shut the door behind him. He leaned against the door with the papers in his hand.

"Hunter and I weren't always...recombinets. We were humans first." At this, my eyes widened. "We didn't have wings nor the funky eye color. Then we were captured and taken to the Institute for Higher Liv-"

"When were you taken?" Fang asked abruptly. I turned and glared at him, but Shadow didn't seem to mind and answered his question.

"I believe about 3 months ago." Hunter groaned loudly in the background. I exchanged a look with Fang. The School was quick to get back on it's feet.

"Brian was going to a camp-" Shadow continued. Wait a sec...huh?

"Who's Brian?" I asked. I was barely aware of the silence in the room.

"That's Hunter's old name when he was just a human," Shadow answered. I blinked at that.

"And what was yours?" I asked

"Sky..." I heard Hunter rasp. Everyone in the room looked at him. He was trying to sit up and was letting go of his head cautiously, as if expecting it to come apart at any minute.

Shadow was immediately at his side. "Be careful. Just rest. Don't-"

Hunter silenced her by putting a finger in front of her mouth. "I'm fine Shadow. Trust me." He blinked and wiped his eyes and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Shadow asked quickly in a no-nonsense tone.

"Please tell me I wasn't crying," Shadow laughed, more out of relief then out of humor. I heard Fang snicker and I chuckled.

"Well I guess you're feeling okay if you're back to acting like macho man again," Shadow said. There was a knock on the door. Fang turned around and opened the door. Iggy walked in with a cart of 9 plates followed by the rest of the Flock.

"Dinner is served," the Gasman said with a perfect French accent.

"Actually, Gazzy, it's breakfast," I said.

"Fine!" Gazzy said, pouting playfully, "Ruin my fun." I smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked Hunter, her eyes leaking with concern.

"Yeah. I'm cool." Hunter said. Shadow glared at him for playing, what she called, macho man.

"Yeah cause you scared all of us when you like screamed. That had happened to Max too once I remember and it scared the hell out of-" Nudge started.

"_Nudge_," I warned before she switched on the Nudge Channel.

"Oops," she said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"What'd I missed?" Total said. Hunter, who was drinking a glass of water, spit it out and started choking on the water. Shadow stared at Total, then went to go help Hunter breathe.

"Oh God! That-the dog-scared me!" Hunter gasped out. Uh-oh...

"Oh, so I'm a _**that!?**_I'm _**the dog!?**_" Total shouted, indignant.

"Well, that's what you are, right?" Gazzy said, defending Hunter and irritating Total at the same time.

"C'mon guys, enough. Total, Hunter isn't used to talking dogs, so calm down." I snapped. My morning was stressful enough...

"It's okay Max. Just take deep breaths..." Angel said. My vacation was over and I knew it because...

1.Erasers are back.

2.My long lost twin (maybe) appears.

3.Fang's long lost twin (maybe) appears.

4.My twin brother has a brain attack

5.I'm worrying about that whole save the world thing all over again

I followed Angel's advice and took a deep breath.

"We didn't mean to trouble you. If you want we can leave..." Hunter said, attempting to get up.

"No!" I said quickly, causing the rest of the Flock to stare at me. "It's the Erasers that are stressing me, not you guys," I said. Fang handed me a plate of food and I dug in. A few moments, later I saw Shadow staring awkwardly at the food cart, that had just two plates of food left.

"You can have some," Fang said.

"That's all I needed to hear," I heard Shadow mumble and I smiled. She snatched the plates off the cart, gave one of them to Hunter, and tore through the food like-may I say it?-an Eraser. Which made me wonder...when did they last eat?

Hunter stared at the food, "Um...I'm not hungry." That made Shadow stop eating.

"Excuse me," she said. Uh-oh...that doesn't sound good.

"I'm just not hungry,"

"Hunter..." It sounded more like a warning than anything.

"What?"

"Don't you dare lie to me," Shadow's tone was steely.

"And how do you know that I'm lying?" Hunter was stubborn. Sorta like me stubborn. But Shadow was Fang stubborn. And for some odd reason that almost always over-rided Max stubborn.

"Oh maybe it's because we've been eating little to nothing in the last two weeks. Oops I meant the the last _3 months,_" Shadow answered dryly. Wait...did I hear correctly?

"Last 3 months?" I said, immediately concerned. Shadow shrugged, as if eating barely anything was nothing.

"There's been budget cuts at the School. No money for such outrageous things like feeding us lowly experiments." Sarcasm and anger leaked through in her voice.

"But that doesn't change the fact that I'm not hungry," Hunter said.

"Eat the damn food before I shove it down your freaking throat!" Shadow snapped, slamming down her plate, and surprising all of us.

"Well, I don't need to be threatened twice," Hunter said, picking up the plate of food and he started to eat it. Shadow, eyeing him, picked up her own plate of food and finished it off.

"So...you were telling us you story," I said, cutting through the silence.

"Oh...okay. Brian and I...I mean Hunter and I got captured by Erasers-"

"Why'd you change your names?" Fang cut in.

"Well, we found out that our...avian...names were Hunter and Shadow. We decided that since we were living a lie with the names Brian and Sky, we changed them," Hunter answered.

Fang blinked and I nodded in understanding, "Go on."

"So...we were brought to the institute and was injected with...something...and then we sprouted the wings and a side effect was the eye color." Shadow continued. Fang and I exchanged a look. Serum A17.

"Well during our _hospitable _stay at the School I was mostly put against the experiment that they called Omega," Hunter said, narrowing his eyes. I grimaced. So they hadn't thrown wonder boy in the trash heap yet.

"At the School I was mostly tested for endurance," Shadow said looking down. Then her breathing became shallow. Hunter stared at her, concerned. She stomped to the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

"She," Hunter said low enough so we could hear, but not for her to accidentally hear, "had the worst School experience out of us two. They put her to see how much poison she could take, how much pain she could take before she went unconscious, how many Erasers she could take down before she fell herself." I saw Angel fall to the ground with the weight of his words. Poor baby.

"Sometimes she would stumble into the room they kept us in half dead," I looked at the Flock. Nudge was helping Angel up. The Gasman was clutching onto Iggy's shirt and Iggy's face was strained. Fang's jaw was set and his hands were clenched into fists. Oh yeah, he went through the most endurance training out of all of us in the Flock.

"Then-" Hunter was cut off when a shriek, a loud thump and a low but audible curse came from the bathroom. I winced and noticed that Hunter winced as well. He mouthed tell you later' to us, shot out of the bed and walked towards the door. As soon as he reached it though, the door opened to reveal Shadow with a towel covering her right hand.

"...And what have I told you about punching inanimate objects?" Hunter said.

"And who said I was-" Shadow started but Hunter yanked the towel off her hand to reveal swollen knuckles.

Shadow shrugged and walked off while Hunter glared at her.

"We had escaped 2 weeks ago and learned to fly about a week ago," she said, sitting on the bed. Hunter went next to her. Maybe we should show them...

"Fang," I said. He looked at me questionably.

"Give me my papers," I said. He handed them to me. I passed Shadow the one about me and Hunter.

She gasped and said "Hunter!" Hunter looked on over her shoulder than slowly looked up to stare at me.

"Is this real?" he said slowly.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. Because, well, I didn't know.

"You have a cool ass sister and you deserve it," Shadow said, and I raised my eyebrow. Me, cool? Shadow continued "I really want to meet my brother." Both of my eyebrows shot up and Fang stiffened. So, she knew?

"What did you hear abut this...brother?" Fang asked. She handed Hunter his papers.

"Well, all I know is that he's my twin," Shadow said. Nervously, Fang handed her the papers. She scanned them.

"Oh my god," she said, letting the papers fall to the floor and she looked at Fang.

"What? What's going on?" the Gasman said. Iggy filled them in and they all gasped.

"Wow..." Nudge said. Hmmm...a short sentence. She must be amazed.

"If these are fake, I will go to the person who made them and cheerfully rip their throat out," Shadow said.

"Huh?" Hunter said, picking up the the papers that Shadow dropped than said "Oh." He looked at Fang, then Shadow, "You two _do _resemble each other."

"Same goes for you and Max," Fang said. I looked at Hunter. Same dirty blond hair. Same skin tone. Same nose. Same mouth.

I looked at Fang and Shadow. There was only one big difference.

"A few weeks before I arrived at the School, my "father" had given me what was supposed to be a flu vaccine. I doubt it was that now. But whatever it was it reduced the melanin count in my skin. It was painful." **(A/N I don't know if this can actually happen. I put this because I made a mistake in the first chapter. Shadow will have olive colored skin in later chapters) **

"Yeah, you had the same skin tone as Fang. But it has been returning," Hunter said. He was right. Her skin was only a few tones away from his.

_Max, _Jeb said.

"Everyone, wait a sec. Jeb wants to put in his two cents," I said.

_Can you and the Flock escort Hunter and Shadow to your mother's house._ Okay, what am I? A taxi service?

_And why..._

_We'll do a few blood tests to see if you and Fang are related to Hunter and Shadow._

_...Alright Jeb. _He's lucky I wanted this information to be true and I wanted to see Dr. Martinez and Ella again.

"We're going to my mom's house." Hunter looked up.

"Would this be my mother too if the info's real?" Hunter asked. I nodded and his eyes lit up.

All of us grabbed our packs and left the hotel. We walked near a deserted outskirts of town.

"Up and away guys," I said. I jumped in the air and spread my wings. I saw the rest of my Flock obey my order. Shadow and Hunter looked at us in awe.

Then Shadow and Hunter jumped, spread their own wings, and flew in front of us, the sun making their wings glint silver and gold.

"Okay, let's hit it," I said. And off we went.

**Okay people, you know me, paradise doesn't stay for long. The next chapter will be like the calm before the storm.(Actually that's what it's going to be called) But you people need to review. OK? **


	6. The calm before the storm

**Me: Alright people. I'M BACK!**

**Shadow:Crap...**

**Me:(glares at Shadow)**

**Hunter:(shrugs) Thanks to reviewers. And if she didn't answer your review, it's because of this chapter.**

**Shadow: Yeah...it's long...**

**Me:coughcough...disclaimer...coughcough**

**Shadow: (sighs) She doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Hunter:...But she owns us**

**Me: Thank you (turns to audience) here we go...**

**Chapter 6: The calm before the storm**

Max's POV

I've spent less than 24 hours with Hunter and Shadow and I already felt like I could trust them. Which is weird coming from me. Maybe it's because of that possibility that they are siblings to Fang and I.

Or maybe it's because they remind me so much of myself and Fang.

But, whatever it is, it's working wonders on my attitude.

"Alright everyone, rise and shine!" I said. We were camping out in the forest. Most of the Flock groaned. Hunter, on the other hand, sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Need anything?" he asked. I gave him a friendly smile.

"Yeah, for the rest of my Flock to get up." I said the last part loudly and they actually started moving this time. Well, everyone except Shadow. Hunter went over and started poking her. She was sleeping in a feathery bundle with one wing wrapped around her and the other one was spread out and it twitched every so often.

I went over to Fang, who had sat up and was rolling his neck. I nudged him and nodded towards Hunter and Shadow.

"The Morning Show with Shadow and Hunter," he muttered. I smiled.

"And, unfortunately, Shadow has forgotten to drink her coffee, so she has hit the snooze button on this show. Let's see if Hunter could get her up," I said. This time, Fang smirked, which was as close to a smile as he would get. Then it disappeared.

"Leave me," Shadow mumbled to Hunter. He poked her again and she groaned. He poked her again and the result was a growl.

"I'm close to waking her up," he whispered loudly to us. I chuckled and Fang smirked. Hunter poked Shadow again. Shadow shot up and hit Hunter upside his head.

"I'm up dammit!" she shouted.

"It didn't look that way a minute ago," Hunter said. Shadow grumbled something about him and morning people and sat by the campfire where the rest of the Flock was gathered. Hunter chuckled, sat next to her, and put an arm around her.

"You know you love me," he said. I rolled my eyes and glared at Fang who was smirking at me. Fang, then, held out his arms and mouthed this much. I narrowed my eyes at him and sat next to the Gasman.

"In your dreams and in my nightmares," she said, closing her eyes and enjoying the good aroma of Iggy's cooking. Hunter put a hand to his forehead.

"Oh! Woe to me! And thus, I die of a broken heart," Hunter said, throwing himself to the ground. The Flock was laughing by now. Even Fang was chuckling.

"Okay, _drama_ _queen_, but don't blame me when ants start crawling in your hair," Shadow said, simply. Hunter sat up quickly and put on a hurt face.

"You are so mean to me..." Hunter said, making his voice thick like he was going to cry.

"Aw...there, there...you know I still love you-" Shadow started to comfort him. He shot up.

"Ha! I knew it! I knew you loved me!" Hunter said pointing at her. But she stood calm.

"As I was saying...I still love you in your _dreams," _Shadow said. He fell to the floor, sat up, and pouted.

"Aw! Come on!" Hunter said. All of us were laughing now.

"Breakfast is ready," Iggy called.

"And thus, ends The Morning Show with Shadow and Hunter," Gazzy said in his announcer voice. We ate our breakfast and every one was getting ready for my command.

"Alright...I decided that we need to go to the mall," I said. Jaws dropped, people stopped breathing yada yada yada. Yeah I get it. The, Maximum Ride, going to the mall without poking and prodding.

"What?" Gazzy asked, dumbfounded.

"I guess we didn't save the world after all," Iggy muttered, earning a glare that he couldn't see from me.

"Shopping?" Shadow whispered, as if saying a bad word.

"What?" Hunter said, smirking. "You don't like picking shirts and skirts and-" Shadow groaned loudly, cutting him off.

"Why don't you like shopping? I mean, it can be entertaining like picking out a whole new wardrobe and-" Nudge started.

"We are **NOT **getting a whole new wardrobe. We're just getting Hunter and Shadow some new clothes," I said. So we-the Flock-did our classic up and away and went to the nearest mall. First, we went into a shop called _Boy's Stop_.

Hunter, purposely, took his time picking out a outfit. He and Nudge just kept talking about clothes and I was almost sure that Shadow wanted to throttle them both. Fang stood next to me, talking to me or Iggy every so often. Iggy, Shadow and Total played the complete the story game. Gazzy and Angel sat on the floor playing tic-tac-toe.

Finally, Hunter picked out a white shirt, which had mini gold wings on the pocket. Stitched on the pocket was the words, Angel of the Hunted. He also got blue jeans that were sorta baggy and black Nikes.

We were going into a store called _Rainbow _for Shadow until she pointed out, "Black's not a color in the rainbow."

"And your point is?" Iggy said.

"I like black," she said.

"But it's the middle of summer!" Hunter said, exasperated.

"Technically it's the beginning of August and that's never stopped me before," Shadow said.

"What's going on?" I asked, feeling de ja vu.

"She likes to wear black. That's like, her trademark," Hunter told us. Oh. That reminds me of someone. I turned around to look at Fang, who was smirking. Now I remember this conversation. Fang and I had it last summer. And I learned. Don't mess with Fang's black ensemble.

"Alright you two! Stop arguing! How about the two faithful lovers of the color black go find black clothes, while the rest of us get lunch." Fang gave me a Who? Me? look. I gave him the no duh look and passed him the bank card. He took it and shot me the bird.

"C'mon Fang. These people don't understand us," Shadow said. Both of them started walking away in search of a store.

"Don't get sweaty under all of those black clothes now," Hunter teased. Shadow shot him the bird.

20-30 minutes later...

So after letting Hunter change into his new clothes, going to the food court, ordering 5 boxes of pepperoni pizza, and finding good seats, I was as relaxed as I could remind myself. Why, you may ask? Well, Hunter was the boy version of me. No, seriously. He took good care of the Flock when I went to the bathroom, and he's quick with directions and always alert.

"Um...Max," Hunter said quietly.

"What?" I asked, tensing right back up.

"Can you get a pack of triple A batteries?" he asked. Okay...weird request...

"Why?" I asked.

"Well...like I was saying yesterday before Shadow attacked the wall, one day, at the School, Shadow got crazy angry. Her wings and eyes glowed silver and she had gotten way stronger and-"

"Whoa wait-why did she get so angry?"

"Well...she had busted Omega's nose when..."

"Omega?" Okay, now now he was confusing me. He took a deep breath.

"Okay...as you know, they often put me against Omega. One trial was to put her against Erasers while I fought Omega. They told her **NOT** to break into my fight if I was in trouble"

I scoffed at that. I knew Shadow enough by now to know that she doesn't listen to anyone unless she feels like it. And that she's loyal. Like Fang.

"Anyways, Omega had gotten beefed up with certain items, such as, brass knuckles. So, understandably, he was kicking my ass. Shadow, had came over and punched straight in the face, calling him a punk. She had broke his nose."

"Max did that once...they should fix **that **and leave **us** alone. He doesn't _mind_ be experimented on by mad scientists," Nudge mumbled. Hunter chuckled and continued.

"So they took us and put us in cages for like, a day, then they took us and strapped us onto separate tables. Omega, not being a gracious...fellow...had requested that he shock us in order to _teach us some respect._" Cold outrage flooded through my being. If Omega was here right now _I_ would teach him **respect.**

"So he shocked us. At first he mostly concentrated on Shadow. But then he started shocking me until she screamed at him to stop. Then he shocked her for a good 3 minutes."

"Oh my God," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. I noticed the rest of the Flock was quietly listening in. Angel put Total in her backpack, since he snoozed off.

"Yeah," he said, his expression grim, "She had went limp until Omega whispered, You failed yourself, you failed Hunter, into the microphone. That's when she woke up. And she was crazy angry or as the whitecoats called it _inhuman savagery_ or the _blow up_. I just plain old call it cold fury. Anyways, that's when she busted out of the straps and got out the room."

"Did she get Omega?" Iggy asked.

"Yep. Almost killed the bast-I mean-the boy. And she had killed a few Erasers too. It took 20 tranquilizer darts and 10 Erasers to stop her from killing him," he had lowered his voice.

"And when do these batteries come into play?" Iggy asked.

"Oh yes, I'm getting to that," Hunter said, relaxing in his chair. "Well, afterwards, they weren't sure if they wanted to collect data on her or not. In the end, they decided to check out her brain waves. Now, there's a whole big complicated mess about what they observed, and I'm not going to bore you with the details, but let's just say there are only three things that can stop Shadow when she's pissed like that."

"And what is that?" I asked.

"Well, there's music. And it _has to be_ music she likes. So if you put on jazz music, you just might make her more pissed. But, if you put on _certain_ alternative songs, she'll calm down," Hunter stood up stretching.

"Again, where do the batteries come in?" Iggy pressed. Hunter dug through his backpack and pulled out a Mp3 player.

"This is what they confiscated the day she was taken. This is really hers and they gave it back when they got this data," he answered. So we all got up and left to the electronics store. Then I noticed something.

"Wait. You said three things. What are the other two?" I asked.

"Her twin will be able to stop her and help control it, since it seems that she can't on her own. But I really don't know how he will be able to stop it," Hunter answered shrugging.

"And what else?" I urged on. God, he probably feels like this is a game of 50 questions. He stopped in his tracks and looked away.

"When she finds him...her mate," he answered, looking back at me. His face was clouded and continued walking leaving me to ponder on this information.

A few minutes later...

We reached the electronics store and got a 4 pack of triple A batteries which Hunter claims they each work for about 2 weeks. We went to pay for them and I was deeply annoyed about the teenage girl who kept shamelessly flirting with Hunter. Then some guy ran in.

"Shelly! You have to come see this!" he said.

"What is it now, Joe?" she asked, annoyed.

"You know that Super Smash Brothers Melee tournament, right?" he asked, oblivious to her annoyance.

"Yea."

"There's this goth girl there and she's kicking everyone's ass!" he exclaimed. Hunter stiffened next to me.

"Are you serious?" Shelly asked.

"Yep, but her just as goth twin brother didn't enter. It probably would've just been him versus her if he's as good as her," Joe said. _Uh oh..._

"Do you know where the tournament is at?" Hunter asked Joe politely.

"Two floors down from here," Joe answered. Hunter practically ran out of there and the rest of us followed closely behind. We reached the store and people were already leaving and chatting about it. I heard girl, brother, and cute. Then we saw Fang and Shadow. And they shocked the rest of the Flock. _Because they were smiling, laughing and giving each other high fives._

I exchanged a look with Hunter. He said loud enough for them to hear, "The world is ending."

They both looked at us, hiding smiles, but not succeeding. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Shadow easily did one of the most impossible things in a life time. Make Fang smile. But it disappeared once I realized something. Even if the test came back negative, he would still consider this girl a blood sister. And that filled me with joy. I couldn't help but smile. See...I was right. Hunter and Shadow's appearence was working wonders for my attitude.

"Well...what happened?" I asked.

"Well...I won this tournament and got 100 bucks, a trophy, and a ticket for a free Super Smash Brothers Brawl for when it comes out," she said. Hunter busted out a smile and gave her a high five.

"Good job!"he said.

"Cool outfit!" Nudge squealed. And I have to admit...Shadow's outfit _was_ cool. She was wearing a black tight short sleeve shirt that said, in silver letters, You'll find me in the Shadows, black fingerless gloves, a black skirt that just above the knees, black and white striped stockings, and black combat boots.

"Well...let's go get you two some food," I said. We returned to the food court and I sent the little ones with Iggy to get a table.

That's when _it_ happened.

"Hey there, handsome," a girl said to Hunter.

"Oh great," I heard Shadow mutter.

"Me and my friend would like to know if you and your friend would like to eat with us," the girl said, gesturing to her friend, who waved, and to Fang. My blood started boiling. Who did this bimbo think she is? Cupid?

"Um..." Hunter started as if considering. Until Shadow kicked his shin. "Ow!"

"I'm sure they would _love _to join you," Shadow said, in a tone of mock sweetness, "_But _they're babysitting." Shadow gestured towards the others, who were patiently waiting for us.

"I'm sure you can handle a few _lousy_ kids on your own," the girl said. _**Lousy?! **_Now _this_ is where **I** step in.

"Well, Nick and Brian would like to get_ paid_, so we'll be going **now,**" I answered, grabbing Fang and Hunter by their shoulders.

"Well, _excuse me_." the girl said rolling her eyes. Oh _hell_ no. **Now** she's _really_ pushing my patience.

But before I could say a word, Shadow retorted, "You're _excused_." Now was it just me or did it seem, for a second there, that Shadow was going to start cursing? Shadow had crossed her arms and was just itching to hit the girl, I could tell.

"Listen-**don't** get smart with me," the girl hissed at Shadow, getting in her face. But Shadow didn't get riled up. Nor did she hit her. Wow...she has self control.

"Why? Can't understand? Can't keep up?" Shadow spat out viciously. It was a challenge. The girl backed down. She huffed, whirled around and stomped away.

Some kid at another table called out, "You sure got her panties in a twist." Shadow shot the guy the bird and stomped off towards our table where the others were waiting. I went with Fang and Hunter to the table.

"So...I guess food is-" I started.

"Let's just eat here," Shadow said. I shrugged. I ordered food and we ate.

Fang froze once, looked around at us. Then he asked, "Did you say something Shadow?" She shook her head. Fang muttered something along the lines of I'm hearing stuff.

We finished and left and that's when Shadow and I started getting our own catcalls from a group of teenage boys behind us.

"Hey! You with the blond!" Shadow rolled her eyes.

"Hey blondie...looking good..." Ugh...what a sleazeball!

"My name's Tyler. I'm guessing yours is Beautiful." By now, Fang's jaw was clenched and his fist was curling. Hunter was counting under his breath.

"Hey, goth girl. What's good?" One of them called. Hunter had enough.

"This is _what's good_." Hunter called. Then, he put an arm around Shadow's shoulders. I gawked and Shadow's eyes widened.

"What _are_ you doing?" she hissed. He didn't answer. The guys behind us groaned.

"Oh man...gothie, come back to Singlesville!" a boy said.

"Yeah! We got cookies!" another one said. They all busted out laughing. Shadow put her hand over her face and groaned.

"Oh well, there's still the blond," the jerk who's voice I recognized to be Tyler.

Then the unthinkable happened.

Fang grabbed my hand.

And held it.

My eyes really widened then. I looked at Fang who was walking like it was all good.

"Oh crap," Tyler said. Shadow looked at Fang over Hunter's arm.

"Did you say something?" she asked. He shook his head. We exited the mall.

"You okay?" I asked Fang as he let go of my hand. I looked at his face. Oh yeah. He was pissed. He just shrugged.

It was like 5'o clock. We found a park and I let the little ones play until about 7. We had dinner, then found a large cave that was unreachable by humans. When we got there, every fell asleep almost immediately except for me and Fang. I told him about Shadow and her cold fury issue. When I was done, he thought about it then said:

"If I'm her twin, I'll do whatever I can, but I don't see _how_ I could help," Fang answered, looking at the moon in all it's glory. A yawn escaped me.

"I'll take first watch. You go to sleep," he said. I was too tired to argue. I settled in between Shadow and Angel and fell asleep.

_Shadow's dream_

Outside POV

Shadow looked around in a very bright space.

"Hello?" she called. Then Hunter appeared before her with another girl in his arms.

"Hunter?" she said.

"I don't need you," he hissed.

"What?!" she exclaimed, backing up.

"I never needed you," he continued venomously.

"But-" she stopped and bit her bottom lip. Maybe if she tells him the truth, he'll stop scaring her, "I need you."

Hunter and the girl started laughing. Shadow bit her lip harder. **This **was why she didn't show or tell anyone about her emotions. She didn't show any emotions to keep away from the pain.

_Oh no,_ she thought. Tears had started falling from her face. And they wouldn't stop. Both Hunter and the girl sneered.

"Pathetic!" Hunter said, a disgusted look marring his handsome features. Then both he and the girl both pushed Shadow. She felt herself falling and she couldn't do a thing. All she could is stare disbelievingly at Hunter and the girl.

And she recognized the girl.

Annabell.

She heard their maniacal laughter.

Then she landed, with a painful and sickening **THUMP!**

Shadow's POV

I jolted up and heard a sound that wasn't human. Then I realized that it had come from me. Figures...since, technically, I'm 98 percent human.

Fang had ran over and looked at me, concerned, I believe, since he does hide his emotions pretty damn good. "Are you okay?

"Just dandy," I answered. He glared at me and I heard him say, Oh hilarious.

But he didn't move his mouth.

Oh, God. I must be bugging out.

"Why are you bugging out?" Fang asked, sitting down in front of me. Um...

"I never _said_ anything about bugging out," I said.

"Oh," Fang said. What the hell is going on? I heard from him.

"I don't know," I answered.

"Don't know what?" he asked. Okay, this is getting annoying.

"I agree," he answered.

"Agree with what!?" I said. Annoyance leaked through in my voice.

"Didn't you just say...just forget it," he said. I looked around.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"Getting breakfast."

"They left us?"

"No. As Max would say, we wouldn't get our lazy butts up."

"Oh."

"What was your dream about?" Fang asked, sounding a bit curious.

"Oh, nothing. I've been having that same nightmare for about a year now," Okay the first part was false but the whole year thing was true. And every time it feels more real.

"Oh, really. Well last time I checked a nightmare was something. And I heard a few names in your sleep," He said, acting casual. I glared at him. That stupid son of a- wait I couldn't call him that! If I'm his sister, I'd be calling my own mom a bitch!

I settled with glaring at him and took his smug grin as a challenge. "What did you hear?"

He opened his mouth to tell me until I heard someone call, "Fang! Shadow!"

We both shot up and ran outside. I saw the Flock, landing. The younger ones looked a bit scared and Hunter had a bundle in his arms.

I ran to Hunter, hating when we're separated. "What's wrong?" I asked. Fang was already by Max's side, speaking to her. They were so in love with each other. Fang glared at me, as if he heard what I said.

"Look at who we found in the woods," Hunter said, snapping me out of my positive thoughts. I looked to the bundle and almost screamed.

It was Annabell.

**And the storm has arrived. So, anyone who wants to know what happens next...review:)**


	7. The Storm hits Part 1

**Me: I'm ba-ack.**

**Shadow: Oh joy.**

**Hunter: C'mon Shadow...play nice.**

**Me: Oh yeah and I changed the blurb because it sounded...well...blah. And I also changed the category because the story's gonna sound like a drama.**

**Shadow: Yeah it's gonna be like _Days of our Genetically Enhanced Lives._**

**Annabell: Hilarious, Shadow. You should become a comedian.**

**Shadow: (hisses at author) Why the hell is she here?!**

**Me: I dunno. She has no life.**

**Shadow: Then make her one! Away from me!**

**Hunter: Um...the author doesn't own Maximum Ride nor Faint by Linkin Park...**

**Shadow: But she owns us. **

**Annabell: So if you use us, just give our amazing author some credit!**

**Shadow: Kiss ass...**

**Annabell: What did you just call me?**

**Hunter: START THE STORY!!!**

**Me: Oh yeah! Song is in italics. Alright, story starts...**

**Hunter: Oh God, HURRY! I can't hold them back forever!**

**Me: Now!**

**Chapter 7: The storm hits part 1**

Shadow's POV

Why does hell Fate do this to me?! **Why?!** Right now I was just sitting outside the cave, listening to _my _version of calming music. Just so I don't _accidentally_ kill anyone.

"Shadow?" Hunter said cautiously, as if testing if I would bite his head off first. He's lucky he got me these damn batteries. I turned up the volume just to let him know I really didn't feel like listening to him. The song that was blasting in my ear was Faint by Linkin Park.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Oh yeah, he was just tumbling with smart questions today. First with the, _Can we keep __**her**__ here?_ to, _Are you okay? _ Wow. Well I leave just think of that question as rhetorical.

"You know, I couldn't-_we_ couldn't just leave her in the woods," he said. _Sure,_ let the rest of the Flock take the fall with you. But _all of you_ could've just kept flying along.

"Why do you hate her so much?" he whispered, more to himself than to me.

_I am a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of disregard_

Painful memories of _why _I hate her filled my head. I quickly pushed them out.

"C'mon Shadow. The Flock wants you back inside," Hunter reasoned. Still, no response from me.

_Handful of complaints, but I can't help the fact that everyone can see these scars_

"Alright, fine." he said, sounding a bit depressed. Was it because of me? Or was it because it didn't go the way he planned?

_I am what I want you to want, what I want you to feel_

Why can't he understand? No matter what happens, I'll always hate her...

But then...I never _really_ told him what happened...

But he knows that I don't make a habit of hating other girls. Sure, there was that girl yesterday, at the mall. But she had a attitude problem which I hope I fixed. But still...I'm regularly quiet when it comes to people. I don't love nor hate 'em without a reason.

_But no matter what I do, I can't convince you to just believe this is real_

I looked back and saw him, Hunter just walking back to the cave, back to _her_.

_So I let go, watching you, turn your back like you always do_

_Face away and pretend that I'm not_

Why don't I leave, since Hunter doesn't understand me?

First off, I won't leave my best friend just because some stupid bitch came along. It wouldn't be right, for him and the Flock. And it wouldn't be fair for me.

And if _he_ can't understand me...then no one can or will.

_But I'll stay here cause you're all that I got_

I switched off the music. It was just getting me more pissed. I was going to get up from my comfortable position, but then I entered a flashback.

_Meanwhile, in the cave:_

Outside POV

"Is she coming in?" Max asked.

"Nope," Hunter said. Max sighed impatiently.

"Why won't she come in?" Iggy asked.

"I don't know," Hunter said, putting a hand to his forehead. "She's hated Annabell since-"

"Annabell?" Fang asked quietly, from his spot near the cave entrance. Hunter looked at him.

"Yeah, that's her name," Hunter replied, pointing at the tan girl with bleach blond hair.

Fang looked at the girl warily, then back at Hunter. I'll go speak to Shadow." He turned to leave.

"Be careful. If she's remembering something then-" Hunter started. Fang stopped in his tracks then turned around.

"Is there something you forgot to tell us?" Max asked, interrupting. Hunter winced.

"Oops. Well, um...once, the whitecoats tried to enhance her memory. The result was that she could have no control when flashbacks hit her. Most of the time, she'll just stay there, staring into space. If the flashback is particularly traumatic, she'll start thrashing around," Hunter rambled.

"And how will I know..." Fang said, purposely trailing off.

"Her pupils will be white," Hunter said. Fang nodded and went to go see Shadow.

"Any other _perks _ you want to tell us about?" Max asked.

"Um...the flashback thing happens to me too," Hunter said cautiously.

"Great," Max muttered.

"Um...Max?" Angel interrupted.

"What is it sweetie?"

"I was reading Fang's mind and-"

"Angel!"

"Sorry! It was an accident! Anyways he thinks that he and Shadow can like, talk to one another in their minds."

"...Perfect." Max said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

Back to Shadow (in her POV)

_Flashback_

"You know Sky...you have to stop getting into fights with Annabell," Brian said. We were walking home from school. Oh great...not this topic.

"But she started it!" I said, sounding more like a six year old than indignant.

"But you didn't have to finish it! Listen Sky! The principal and teachers were discussing you two today. And they want one of you out of the school. And knowing Annabell and her connections, they will take _you_ out." Brian turned me towards him, put his hands on my shoulders, and looked me straight in the eye. "I don't want us to be in separate schools. So please Sky, stop the madness."

"Fine," I said, looking at him, "I'll try my best. But not for Annabell and not for school. I'm only doing this for you," I said. He smiled, which made my heart beat faster.

"That's all I needed to hear," he said.

_The next day..._

"This is going to be so much fun!" Annabell squealed. I kept in my snide comment.

"Yeah...fun..." I said putting a fake smile.

"Aw c'mon! It's girls night out. Show a little more enthusiasm," Annabell said. I tried to lift up my uncomfortable smile.

"Okay! We're gonna have so much fun!" I said, feeling like throwing up.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" I gritted my teeth. Lord, help me.

"Here it is! My hang out," Annabell shrilled.

"Um...an alleyway?" I said questionably.

"Yeah, C'mon!" I threw away all of my street instincts that told me to get the hell out of there.

"For Brian," I whispered walking straight into the alley.

And I got jumped.

_A half hour later..._

I ran straight into my house and heard Brian before I saw him.

"How'd it go?" he asked. I ran into my room before he saw me. My parents went away a lot so I usually had the house to myself. I locked my room door.

"What happened?" he shouted.

"GET OUT! I CAN'T TALK TO YOU NOW!" I screamed.

"I'm not leaving this house until you tell me..." Brian said but I ignored him. The keys to my room were the only keys of this house that he didn't have because usually I would let him in. Soon, he walked away and I heard a door slam so I guessed he had left. I stepped out, my body protesting because I did get jumped. And, I was proud to say, still managed to win because all of them were Annabell's friends who were weak from fasting. But I still had a black eye, a scratched cheek, a sore arm, and a badly bruised leg.

Anyways, I limped to the kitchen and leaned down to look in the refrigerator. Nothing. Then a door opened quietly. I straightened up and whirled around to see Brian putting down groceries, his back to me.

"Please don't run and tell me what's wrong," he said. I turned around not wanting him to see me.

"Look at me Sky," he said. Nope, I wasn't budging.

He grabbed me by my waist and dragged me to the living room. I started protesting. He lost his temper and threw me onto the sofa and straddled me there. We both stared at each other shocked. He was shocked because of my appearance, and me because of what he just _did_.

"Oh, _Sky_," he said, sympathy leaking in his voice. And, despite the awkward position, he managed to hug me. I looked at the arm chair and saw a black haired, olive skinned boy just sitting there watching.

"What the-" I breathed.

_End Flashback_

"-HELL ARE YOU DOING!" I shouted angrily. Fang was just sitting there calmly, as if he didn't just hack into my brain.

"Did you ever tell him?" he asked, snapping me out of my anger. I bit my lip.

"No," I whispered.

Fang looked as if he was going to tell me something until Iggy called "Everyone! She's waking up. I exchanged a look with Fang and we walked to the cave. I gave my Mp3 player to Angel who put it away in my backpack. I saw Annabell allover Hunter. Then she noticed me.

"Oh," she said tonelessly, "It's you."

"Glad to see you're alive and well too," I said, matching her tone.

"Ahem," Hunter said. Annabell was still hugging him. She blushed-ugh-and got off him.

Everyone in the school Brian and I went to knew that Annabell had a crush on Hunter. They also knew that I was a was a major ahem-bitch and would not let _her_ near him.

"Um-Brian..."she said, trailing off. I looked at the rest of the Flock. Until Hunter left the room they were invisible to her.

"Yes?" he asked. I mentally screamed, _Angel_! Angel winced and looked at me.

_**What**_

_Can you pick anything off her?_ I asked.

_**Nope. She blocks me. But I pick up hate from her. Hate towards you...**_

_Yea, I know. I return the favor._

"They gave me wings," Annabell whispered.

Aw great. They're just passing those out these days. Man, can my life get any worse?

**It can,** Fang said in my head. Oh perfect. I have a brother who can get into my head. **(A/N: Bold will be Fang speaking, underlined will be Angel and italic will be Shadow. But this will only happen in Shadow's POV)**

**I'm always perfect.**

_Oh, just shut up and get out of my head._

**Sorry, it's fun. **I didn't respond. I just slipped in his head. And screamed.

Fang winced and I chuckled. Angel stared wide eyed at me.

How did you...?

_I don't know, but it's fun._ I turned back to Fang, who was glaring at me.

**You gave me a headache.**

_Revenge is sweet._ I turned my attention back to Hunter and Annabell. She was done telling her chapter in the book of _Evil Scientists turned me into a Bird Kid!_

"That's awful," Hunter said with so much sympathy I wanted to hurl. Then she spread one green-yellow wing, which made my stomach drop.

Especially when Hunter spread his own wing.

_IDIOT! _I screamed in my head.

**Um...ouch...**

Yeah Shadow, I wasn't even trying to read anyone's mind and I heard you.

_Sorry...I'm going to get some fresh air. _I went out the cave to the ledge, where I didn't have to worry about that stupid bit-

**Hey, language.**

_I'm in my own head._

**That doesn't stop a certain six year old mind reader.**

_Leave me alone big brother._

**So, we've established the fact that I'm older.**

_Yes Fang. After that argument and rock, paper, scissors tournament, it's established that you are older._

**Good.**

_But if we find our birth certificates, and I'm older, I'm laughing in your face._

**We'll see about that...little sister.** I smirked at that.

Max wants you to know that lunch is ready.

_Oh, okay I'm on-_

"LOOK OUT!" Angel screamed in and outside of my head. I winced and whirled around.

"Hey _birdie,_" Crackle hissed. Snap, Crackle and Pop were surrounding me.

"Crap," I said, which made them roar into laughter. I narrowed my eyes.

Did I ever mention how much I hate Rice Krispies?

**Me: Alright bad cliffie, I know, but this chapter was so long I had to put it into two separate parts. So just review for this chapter and I'll type the other one. And remember...reviews are finger fuel. The more I get the faster I type.**


	8. The storm hits Part 2

**Me: Okay if the system is done...**

**Hunter: She spent all day today trying to make the seventh chapter come out.**

**Me: It even kept saying that I only had 20 reviews when, in fact, there was 32, which is freaking impressive.**

**Hunter: There's a trick involved to access that chapter. **

**Me: Yeah. You had to go to chapter six first, then go to chapter seven (earns collective oh's from the audience) I also don't mind that there is barely any reviews for chapter seven because I barely had access to it myself.**

**Hunter: (nods head) Anyways, she doesn't own Maximum Ride...**

**Me: You two can do your parts from your time out corners.**

**Shadow: (rolls eyes at author) She owns me, Hunter and that thing over there in the other corner.**

**Annabell: (glares at Shadow) So if you use us, give our author some credit.**

**Me: Alright then...story time! **

**Chapter 8:The storm hits Part 2**

Shadow's POV

I looked at Snap, Crackle and Pop then looked back at the cave. Fang, Hunter, Max and Annabell were running towards me.

"Stay where you are...or the birdie gets it," Snap growled out. I heard the loading of a gun. I dared to look to my right to see a gun pointed right towards me. _Oh shit._

**Massive understatement.**

Fang, Max, and Hunter halted. But Annabell marched right up to Pop.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she said. Of course she wasn't doing this for little ol' me. She was putting on a face for Hunter. Pop grinned hungrily and transformed. Annabell shrieked, ran, and fainted straight away into Hunter's arms.

"Oh, for Lord's sake!" I muttered. Snap, Crackle and Pop busted out laughing.

"Not amusing," Hunter said in a steely tone of voice.

Crackle came behind me and twisted my arm behind my back. I sucked in a breath. If he yanked too hard my arm would come out of it's socket.

_Fang!_ Fang took a step forward.

"No, buddy bird or your sister will get a nice bloody hole in her head," Snap said shaking his gun.

"C'mon dog boy. Back away from the girl and you won't get hurt," Max said. He yanked my arm hard.

"OW! MOTHERFU-OOo!" I yelled out. One more time and my left arm would be out of commission. Fang growled, making the Erasers laugh. What was this, Comedy Central?

"Ooo...scary brother alert," Crackle cackled.

"That family has issues..." Pop said, trailing off.

"Don't piss me off. You got that," I warned, making them laugh harder. "I know you were there when _it_ happened."

"Newsflash birdie. The studies show that there is a zero zero one chance of _that_ happening again," Crackle hissed yanking my arm hard.

And with a sickening sound, it popped right out of it's socket. I took in a sharp breath but a scream didn't come out of my mouth since my body was too busy signaling me about the FREAKING PAIN!

"Oops," Crackle whispered holding up my arm. "I broke it." The other Erasers roared with laughter. I was _so_ glad I didn't have breakfast because I wanted to hurl. I couldn't but fall to my knees. That's when Crackle and Pop jumped me. I immediately blacked out.

"Aw! Get up birdie! I thought you were tougher than that!" I heard Crackle sat, shaking me violently. I opened my right eye because my left eye was swollen shut and my face hurt a lot. I looked at Max and Fang, who each had a gun pointed at them, courtesy of Snap. Hunter was a few feet away, holding Annabell up, bridal style. I couldn't help but roll my eye.

**Be careful. Don't make any sudden movements...**

_But why?_

And then I noticed that my wings were being held out by vicious Erasers.

_Oh yeah, just perfect. _

"C'mon Crackle ol' buddy, ol' pal, let go of the merchandise," I said, my voice sounding tired.

"Aw, but it's so pretty," Crackle said, stroking my wing. I couldn't help but shiver.

"You're right dude. Do you actually preen?" Pop asked, trailing a claw along my feathers. Okay, I was particularly protective when it came to my wing so I was getting extremely nervous.

"You know you can let go-" I started then froze when Pop tugged my wing.

"Hunter, dude. Why are you even here?" Crackle said.

"Just trying to get demented wolf men off my best friend. And you?" Hunter snarled.

"Hm...I feel sorry for birdy here," Crackle said, patting my head.

"Yeah...me too," Pop said.

"Me three," Snap said.

"Um...you know, you can save you conscious by um...letting me, my brother, Max and Hunter leave in peace," I said. Note who I left out.

"Your boy is wrong girl," Pop said, ignoring my earlier comment.

_What the fuck?_

**I don't know.**

"What are we? Sitting here waiting for our nails to dry?" Max snarled. They shrugged.

"You know Hunter, I really hated you-" Crackle started conversationally.

"Glad we feel the same way," Hunter retorted.

"Shadow, come with us or you will-"

"Suffer the consequences. I know all that bull already. And the answer is no."

POP! I screamed in pain.

Crackle dislocated my left wing.

"Strike one!" he called. The rest of the Flock ran out and froze, scanning our current situation.

"FUCK YOU!" I shouted, tears streaming down my cheeks.

POP! Oh my God, that hurt like hell. I screamed again

"Strike two!" Pop called.

"Get a fucking life losers," I spat out. Crackle lifted me up by my dislocated arm making me wince.

"Last chance," He hissed.

"Never," I growled.

This time, it was him he threw me off the cliff.

My last images I saw were...

Max yell out in horror.

Fang shout at grab out at me.

Iggy looking around frantically, in a world he couldn't see.

Nudge scream, her eyes misty.

Gazzy's eyes widen and him, shouting.

Angel and Total running towards the cliff edge.

Hunter.

Hunter looking down at Annabell.

Annabell stroking his face.

I landed hearing that **THUMP!? **I closed my eyes, _wanting _to black out.

But, miraculously, I didn't.

I looked around and saw I was tangled up in branches. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't hit the ground. But then, I went into a flashback.

_Flashback_

I stumbled into the room and hit the floor. The scientist slammed the door shut.

"OH MY GOD! What-oh gosh Shadow!" Hunter exclaimed. I couldn't move or talk. He came to me and cradled me in his arms. And I felt safe.

"I'm so sorry. I'm-Never again. This will never happen again." He looked at me, straight in the eyes. "Don't worry Shadow. I'll always catch you when you fall."

_End Flashback_

Always. Never. Couldn't. Wouldn't.

Anger just filled me. And I felt myself getting numb. _Uh-oh..._

**Me: Whew! Two chappies in one day! I'm exhausted. Alright it's short... But you still...review:)**


	9. Emotion Explosion

**Me:Does anyone know how to contact the higher powers of to tell them there are technical difficulties with your story?**

**Shadow: If you do just give us a heads up and send a message. It could be in your review or in a private message. Anyways...Kim...explain to them why you took so long to post.**

**Me: Sorry! It's not my fault I took so long to update! It's my summer homework. I'm supposed to read the book Flush and I forgot and-**

**Hunter: Correction. You procrastinated.**

**Me: Shut up! Anyways I did part of the stupid assignment. What is with summer homework?**

**Shadow: I guess it's so our brains don't rot over the summer.**

**Me: Fat chance of that not happening. Oh and thank you all you people that reviewed! I can't believe that I have 42 reviews! I equal happiness right now...Anyways...**

**Hunter: She doesn't own Maximum Ride...**

**Shadow: But she owns us and our plot.**

**Annabell: You can't use the plot, but if you use us give our author some credit. (everyone looks around frantically)**

**Me: Where did that voice come from? She isn't here.**

**Annabell: I'm in the bathroom. Hunter can you come in.**

**Hunter:(gives bathroom door a weird look) Why?**

**Annabell: My foot's stuck in the toilet. (Shadow and author bursts out laughing. Hunter bites his lip to prevent himself from doing the same)**

**Me: (In between laughter) On...with...story**

**Chapter 9:Emotions explosion**

Max's POV

The Erasers blocked the cliff so Fang was thrown back when he tried to reach Shadow. I was enraged immediately. How **dare** they do something like that to someone in my Flock?!

"Wh-what just happened? Where's Shadow?" Hunter asked.

"Aw...Hunter missed it. Go down and get her so we can do a replay." the Eraser that Shadow had called Crackle said. The third Eraser went down. Fang almost went after him but the Eraser who had guns pointed both of them at him.

"He-he threw her..." Hunter said in realization. I looked at him. _Were you paying attention? _I thought. He looked at me.

"Annabell woke up and had said that she broke a bone. I looked at her and missed it," Hunter said. Great, he's a Max-reader like Fang.

"Bri-" Annabell started. I rolled my eyes. This girl really turned me in the wrong direction. I mean, she just aggravates me.

Hunter dropped her and ran towards the cliff but the one with the guns pointed one at of the guns at him. "Nope buddy," he said.

"Ouchie Brian! That hurt!" Annabell cried out. _Oh for Lord's sake,_ I thought.

**That girl is so annoying, **I heard Hunter say.

But he wasn't moving his mouth.

Great. More voices in my head.

"What the hell is taking him so long?!" Crackle shouted.

"Dunno. Go check," Wolf with guns said. From now on, I hereby degree, that this Eraser will be named Wolfguns. Anyways, Crackle peered over the edge. He then shot up and grabbed Hunter forcefully and viciously, and jumped off the cliff. All of us, I was sure was staring at them confused.

Wolfguns looked a bit confused himself and looked over the edge. His eyes widened and he jumped off the cliff. Fang and I exchanged a confused look and both looked over the cliff to see Wolfguns run into the forest.

"Let's check it out," I called out jumping off the cliff. I used my wings to soften my fall and ran into the forest, not checking to see if anyone was following. I knew Fang was right beside me, desperate to protect his possible sister. And I was running to save two members of my Flock. I entered a clearing...

...and was shocked beyond belief.

Shadow, with her back facing us, was holding the third Eraser up by it's neck. And then she threw him like nothing. The Eraser hit the tree and went limp. She turned around to face us. Her arm and wings were still hanging awkwardly. She looked at us, her silver eyes shining against her olive skin. There was only one big problem with that.

Her whole eye was silver. And she had no pupils.

"SHE'S IN COLD FURY!" Hunter yelled.

Oh, great. My day of horror was complete.

Cold fury Shadow looked at each of us. Angel grasped onto me and I held her protectively. Shadow smirked savagely. Then she popped her shoulder back in one swift movement. I cringed then stared at her in amazement. That was sort of cool and gross at the same time.

"Ew!" Annabell shrieked. Shadow's gaze immediately locked on Annabell and she smiled demoniacally, flashing fangs. Whoa. Purposely, she faced her and popped both wings in at the same time. Annabell had an expression of deep disgust.

"You get away from us now or the boy gets it!" Crackle said, tightening his grip on Hunter. Shadow ignored him and stared at Wolfguns. He was shaking and had both guns trained on her. She moved fast, fast, fast. She ran over, socked him in the stomach, and shot him a high kick in the face. He toppled over. She dove for the guns.

_**This is amazing,**_ I heard the all annoying Voice say. **Now** my day of horror was complete.

_Glad you think that way, __but is there any way to turn her off?_ I thought to the Voice.

_**I don't know.**_

I rolled my eyes and tuned back in. Shadow had both of the guns and was pointing it at each of the Erasers. I gulped. I didn't want the Flock to see this.

"You and the others, get out of here," I said to Angel.

"But Max-" Angel started.

"Don't protest! This is for your safety. Shadow's not herself right now, so who knows what she'll do," I said, a little too sharply.

"Shadow's not going to hurt us," Angel said.

"This has to be a hard fact, not just because it's Shadow. Because this isn't her," I reasoned.

"But Max, it _is_ her. It's her animal," Angel said.

"So you're saying," Fang started, finally entering the conversation, "That this is her animalistic side of her." Is that even a word? But even so, Angel nodded.

"She wants to protect us. She's like...I dunno-how to explain it," Angel said.

"That's alright Angel. We'll ask later," I said.

"Put the guns down or the boy gets it," Crackle hissed, interrupting us. Shadow kept the gun trained on him. Crackle tightened his hold on Hunter. Shadow narrowed her eyes and unloaded the guns, letting the barrels**(A/N: I dunno if they are really called that. I'm no expert on guns.) **fall to the ground. Then, she hurled the empty gun at Crackle. It hit Crackles face, throwing him backwards and making him let go of Hunter. Hunter scrambled away and stood next to me.

Shadow looked at Wolfguns and held up 5 fingers and closed her eyes, signaling they better hustle out of her sight. Wolfguns eyes went to the size of saucers.

4 fingers. He scrambled up.

3 fingers. He wrestled up Crackle and Crackle, still clutching his face glared at Shadow.

2 fingers. Both Wolfguns and Crackle balanced the third Eraser between them.

1 finger. They ran out of the clearing.

She snapped her fingers and her eyes shot open. A smile of content spread on her lips and she looked back at us. _Now what? _Then I noticed that she was staring at one person in particular. The only stranger in our Flock.

Annabell.

I felt my stomach drop. _Uh-oh._ She started walking towards her. Then Hunter went in between the two enemies and turned to Shadow.

"No," he said. He was either brave or stupid. I'm thinking the second one of the two. She marched right up to him and sidestepped. He copied her. She growled at him but he stood his ground. Shadow and Hunter glared at each other. Then she backed up. Really fast. Her eyes were watery like she was going to cry.

I was becoming really confused. _Angel, what's going on?_

She doesn't like Annabell because she gives off too many negative vibes. Now she's hurt because Hunter's defending Annabell. Hunter had made Shadow a promise and he broke it. It really hurts her.

Fang walked to her and said: "My little sister is safe now. You can go." Wait...did he just call her little sister?

He cocked his head to one side, as if he was listening to someone and said: "So I'll defend her."

He concentrated some more and nodded his head and said, "Of course. But there will be no need for that. She can defend herself" Okay...what's going on?

She first said that she wouldn't leave because Annabell's a threat. Then she told him that she will need constant protection against Annabell because Annabell is out to get her.

_Geez, paranoid much?_ I looked at Shadow. Her eyes narrowed. Then they fluttered shut and she fainted. Fang went over and picked her up. Hunter hovered over them.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"I guess so. Let's go back to camp," Fang said. We arrived at the campsite and Fang put Shadow down near our backpacks.

"Fa-" I started to ask him what was going on but he mouthed later to me and I halted. I gave him a strange look and he cocked his head in Annabell's direction. Yeah, I didn't trust her either.

"Iggy, can you check if Shadow has any injuries," I said. Iggy went over and ran his finger over her face.

"No face injuries," he called.

"Wait-what? Didn't she get raked in the face?" Total asked staring at Shadow.

"Yea-she had black eye too." Gazzy put in. Iggy checked again.

"Nope...nothing," He replied.

"Wait...I remember. That time in the lab, when she came back into the room she wasn't hurt. I had just assumed that it was because they did surgery on her or something..." Hunter said trailing off.

"Cool," Gazzy breathed.

"You should tell everyone about the new powers that you and Shadow have, Fang," Angel said, in her sweet little girl voice. Fang winced and all eyes turned on him.

"What new powers?" Me and Hunter said at the same time. We looked at each other in shock, then stared at Fang.

"Me and Shadow can speak to each other with our minds. And we can feel each others emotions." Fang said. _Yeah the one's that you two don't show._

"Um...so...lunch anyone?" Iggy said. He produced lunch. When we were about finished I was became aware that Shadow had sat up and propped herself against the wall silently. Fang, just as silently, grabbed some food and gave some to her. That's when the rest of the Flock noticed that she was awake. The younger ones and Total crowded around her and all started talking at the same time.

"Everyone! One at a time!" I shouted. They all mostly said something along the lines of glad you're okay.

"No injuries?" Iggy asked.

"Nope," Shadow said.

"Good to hear," Iggy said, smirking at her.

"Thanks."

"Glad you're alright," I said.

"Thanks Max," she said, giving me a lop-sided grin. I smiled. So, she can somwhat smile. She looked at Hunter who was talking to Annabell. He noticed who it was staring at him and he gave her a quick smile then turned away. Okay, not even Fang would do that, and he's mister anti-social. I looked at Shadow and saw pure hurt in her eyes. Then it went away.

"I'm going outside," she mumbled, standing up.

"Are you sure you should?" Fang asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Shadow said, walking out. Hunter stared at her, concerned, and went after her.

"Uh-oh," I muttered. I exchanged a look with Fang. We both started walking out slowly.

"You okay?" Hunter asked.

"No thanks to you," I heard Shadow mutter.

"Shadow don't be like that," Hunter said. No response. "It was an accident."

"How can you let me fall by accident? Oh, yeah. You were to concerned about _that _one over there who _fainted_ like an **idiot**!" Her voice got louder and louder. I quickened my pace.

"Oh please Shadow! I don't understand you at all most of the time. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ACTING LIKE SUCH A BITCH?" Hunter shouted. The last um-word echoed through the forest. I heard the Flock gasp. I could see that after Hunter said it he immediately regreted it. Shadow's eyes flashed with hurt, then it was gone and replaced with anger.

"That's it. Visiting ours are over," Fang snarled, probably feeding off of Shadow's anger. Or maybe not.

"A bitch. A BITCH! Okay Hunter, I'm a bitch," Shadow walked away and spread her wings.

"NO! Wait Shadow!" Hunter called.

She whirled around. "Why Hunter? So you can hurt me? So you can diss me some more? SO I CAN WATCH MY BEST FRIEND **BETRAY** ME?!" Her voice leaked with so much emotion I thought she was going to break down and cry. Instead, Shadow stared at Hunter coldly and said "I **HATE** YOU."

She whirled around and took off, leaving mostly everyone amazed and leaving one person, heartbroken.

**Me: Okay...um...this is awkward(looks at Hunter, who is staring blankly after Shadow) Oops (looks at Annabell, who is smiling wickedly) um...okay(looks at audience, who's about to kill her) Okay! I'll update soon!(Audience relaxes) But...(audience tenses up) You need to review:)**

**Audience: Review people! Review! **


	10. Truths and Schemes

**Me: Alright! Who saw Fang's new post on his blog? **

**Hunter:...**

**Me: Anyways, it says that the fourth Maximum Ride book is coming out in spring 2008.**

**Audience:(cheers loudly for 10 minutes)**

**Me: And it says they went to Antarctica. (Fang said 'think emperor penguins' and 'continent'. The North Pole isn't a continent) I have a REALLY bad feeling about this whole Antarctica thing. (starts ranting) First of all, I almost threw my third Maximum Ride book out the window because of what he did to Max and Fang, and now THIS! If he trashes the Maximum Ride series I will so hunt him DOWN! (End of Rant) And if James Earl Jones does Fang's voice I will be haunted for life. _Anyways_ I'll give JP another shot...Oh and a lot of people liked the last chappie. I got a record number of reviews for that one...Any comments Hunter?**

**Hunter:... **

**Me: I guess I'll have to do the disclaimer by myself...**

**Annabell: YOU COULD ALWAYS GET MY LEGS OUT THE TOILET!**

**Me: I thought only your foot was stuck.**

**Annabell: IT'S EATING ME!**

**Me: O.o**

**Annabell: WHY WON'T IT LET GO OF ME!?**

**Me: Anyways...did the Flock go to Antarctica? Yes? So then that means I DON'T own Maximum Ride. I do own Hunter, Shadow, Annabell, and my Annabell eating toilet that I got off eBay. **

**Annabell: YOU DID THIS TO ME?!**

**Me: Yeah...what are you going to do about it. Last time I checked I OWN YOU!**

**Hunter:...**

**Annabell: HELP ME!!!!!!**

**Me: On with the story!**

**Chapter 10: Truth and Schemes**

Max's POV

I couldn't help but worry about Shadow. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Well, of course she was hurt inside but still...

I kept on shooting worried glances at Fang, who kept reassuring me that she was alive and breathing. Then, there was Hunter.

He was out of it. Distraught was the word for it. I could hear his voice in my head saying **It's my fault. All my fault. She doesn't hate me. Does she? **

Goodness, I'm going crazy.

"Dinner's ready," Iggy called. I went and sat down near the campfire, Fang on one side, Angel on the other. Iggy passed out our meal which was French fries and hot dogs. Which was delicious. And I was enjoying the meal until Annabell said,

"Why don't you look at me when I talk to you, Iggy?" Everyone in the Flock went quiet. But Iggy brushed it off.

"It was at the School. They tried to enhance my eyesight instead they made me blind," Iggy said.

"Ohmygawd! Iggy! If I was blind I didn't know what I would do," she said. Huh? Iggy glared at her and started eating again. Well, okay. Lets tally up the votes. I don't trust her. Fang doesn't trust her. I don't know about Hunter. Shadow _**HATES**_ her. Iggy doesn't like her. Nudge has been giving her the evil eye. Total shoots her dirty looks and doesn't talk. The Gasman looks at her like _why are you here? _And Angel...

...doesn't trust her. I can't read her mind. And when I can reach her emotions, she always has hate radiating off her.

_What about Hunter? Does he trust her?_

He's obsessing over Shadow. I looked at him. He was staring at his food.

"Hunter," I said softly. His head shot up and his eyes were hopeful. But when he saw it was me, his face saddened. _Huh?_

He thought you were Shadow, Angel put in. Oh.

"Try to eat your food," I said.

"Not hungry..." he mumbled trailing off. Something told me he was lying.

"Hunter..." I warned.

"If he doesn't want to eat, then he doesn't have to," Annabell snapped.

"Excuse me?!" was my automatic response.

"You're not the boss of _us_," she had the nerve to say.

"Technically she is," Fang said, his voice steely, sounding so much like Shadow. He continued his dinner not even looking at her.

"Oh yeah, _right_. Sure, emo boy," she said. Fang stiffened and turned to glare at her.

"Max is the leader of our Flock," he said. I could tell he didn't appreciate the whole emo boy statement.

"_Flock_?!" she said incredulously. "What are we, a bunch of animals?"

"Technically, two percent bird," Iggy said.

"Glad you finally caught up," Total muttered. Annabell looked around.

"Who said that?" she asked. None of us answered.

Later...

"Alright, bedtime," I called. The younger ones and Annabell crashed.

"Who's gonna take first watch?" I asked. Hunter raised his hand.

"Alright Hunter, you first I'll take second," I said.

"Third," Iggy called.

Fang shrugged and said, "Fourth." We had split watch into four parts yesterday. I sat in between Fang and Angel. I gave Fang a 'Is Shadow okay?' look. He nodded and I dosed off.

Shadow's POV

After major quiet time, and feeling immensely guilty, I landed back at camp, skidding rocks and dirt everywhere. I noticed that one person was up. Probably Fang since he always takes first watch. I walked back quietly, even though I knew that I won't be able to pass my brother because he probably has hawk DNA.

"Shadow." Crap. That wasn't Fang. I looked to my right. Hunter.

_Double _crap I whirled around and started walking out. But Hunter intercepted me. I _so_ was NOT in the mood for this.

"Shadow, please." he pleaded. It made me wince. _Hunter..._

_No, I don't feel sorry for him. He hurt me. Ripped my heart apart. Tore it to pieces._

"No," I said, my voice stronger than I felt. I sidestepped him and started walking.

"Stop." he said. Like I was going to listen. The next thing I knew, strong arms wrapped around my waist. "I. Said. Stop."

"And I say LET GO!" I said. He didn't head my instructions and I started struggling. He wrapped his arms tighter and put a hand over my mouth. I was seriously contemplating on biting him when he said, "Stop running from me. I'm sick and tired of you running. I'm sick and tired of _us_ running. We need to sit _down_ and _talk_." His thumb ran over my face and he stiffened. "Were you _crying_?"

I immediately stiffened and did what I did best. Not say a word. But instead of him laughing at me, calling Annabell over, and both of them shoving me off the cliff, he turned me around and stared into my eyes making my heart beat faster.

"No. I didn't...Oh _Shadow,_" he said. He came closer, leaned in...

...And brought me into a bone-crushing hug. Hey! What did you think he was going to do? Hunter buried his face into my neck and I stiffened like I always do.

"I'm-I'm so sorry. I didn't-" Hunter said. My neck felt a little wet, which meant one of the two things.

1.He was crying or...

2.He was drooling on me.

Either one it made me feel bad inside. For different reasons. But then I realized, my best friend was blubbering on my shoulder. Where was macho man? I felt horrified and felt tears prickling my eyes. Oh, great. A sob fest. Again. Dammit! This was all the School's fault! Indirectly, but still their fault!

"I'm sorry," I choked out and I hugged him. Yes, me, Ms. Anti-social, hugged a person. Woo-hoo. Note the sarcasm.

"I-I...don't hate you. At **all**. I-I lo-" I stopped myself just in time. WHOA! I was not going to say **that**. It was an accident. And it's brotherly-sisterly love. So hah! Um...I think...GAH! I dunno! JUST STOP THINKING SHADOW!

"It's alright," he whispered. "Just fine. I know you were mad. _We_ were mad. And for the record, you're not a bitch."

"Most of the time," I muttered. He chuckled and brought me closer, this time I buried my head into his neck. Even in the middle of the wilderness, he still managed to smell perfect. Just an observation.

"LIES!" I heard a female shriek. Hunter and I jumped apart. Someone marched out the cave, furious. I became infuriated when I saw who it was.

Annabell.

"HAVEN'T YOU HAD ENOUGH?! YOU RUINED MY FREAKING DAY! GO THROW A PARTY FOR YOURSELF OR SOMETHING!" I yelled, definitely waking up the Flock if they weren't up already.

"SHE'S LYING! I CAN READ HER MIND! TRUST ME BRIAN!" Annabell yelled, filling the area with horrible sound.

"NO!" Angel said, running out of the cave and hanging onto Hunter. "_She's_ the one lying. _She's_ jealous of Shadow. She wants you all to herself."

"Didn't the Flock _mommy_ teach you not to lie?" Annabell sneered, making me want to strangle her.

"Hey!" Max called out, indignantly.

"Didn't your mommy teach you not to be such spoiled **wench**?!" I said trying to avoid the real word that describes her. Well, I _was_ in front of a seven year old. **(A/N: Remember 7 months passed since the last book)**

"HOW **DARE** YOU?!" Annabell yelled. I glared at her, locking onto her yellow-green eyes. "HOW _DARE_ YOU RUIN MY CHANCES WITH BRIAN?! HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY PLAN?! IT WAS **PERFECT**! UNTIL YOU CAME ALONG! I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE HIM TO MYSELF! THAT WAS MY DEAL WITH THE SCHOOL!" she screamed and clamped her hands over her mouth.

"What deal?" Fang asked in a calm and deadly tone.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed and ran past me. I ran after her. She launched herself into space and so did I. She fell into a clump of trees. I snapped out my silver wings instead. I was crazy but not _that_ crazy. I scanned the area below. Nothing.

"Shit," I muttered. That's all I could say. I can't believe Annabell would do something like that. I mean she is scum and I could believe that she would lower herself to that level...but how could Hunter and I fall for something like that?! I surged upward and landed gracefully onto the cliff edge.

"Where is she?" Max asked.

"She escaped. Had planned _every_thing," I was so incredibly pissed right now, it wasn't even funny. Hunter came up to me and put an arm around me.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that she's gone and we're together again," Hunter said, steering us to the cave. We both sat down and I yawned. The rest of the Flock came in and I felt myself dozing off. I smiled when I saw Angel snuggle with Celeste and Total. What an incredibly sweet girl.

"Is that a smile?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah. Enjoy while you can," I said. I started to doze off and Hunter whispered something and kissed my forehead, his arm still around me. Must've been my imagination. I fell asleep thinking about what he had said. About us being together again.

_We're together again._

Together.

I loved that word coming from him.

**Me: Alright people. I had to put some Shanter in because...well, because I wanted to. And of course nothing stays calm for long. But I want to know what you thought. So...review:)**


	11. Unnecessary and unwanted surprises

**Shadow: Can I go flush her NOW?**

**Me: After you and Hunter do the disclaimer.**

**Shadow: Fine! Kim does not own Maximum Ride.**

**Hunter: But she owns us. So if you use us, give us some credit.**

**Me: My quote of the week is:"We don't wear your Abercrombie, so please don't listen to our punk rock."Davey Havock from AFI.**

**Shadow: That has to be the greatest thing I've heard all week. **

**Hunter: If you like this quote don't hesitate to use it.**

**Shadow: Can I flush Annabell now?**

**Me: Go ahead.**

**Shadow:YES! (runs to bathroom)**

**Hunter: I've never seen her so excited **

**Me: Me neither.**

**Annabell: You know I've always loved you...**

**Hunter & Me: Oo**

**Shadow: DROWN IN YOUR LIES AND TOILET WATER (laughs maniacally)**

**Annabell: NO SHADOW DON'T-AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!(loud flushing sound)**

**Me: On with the story!**

**Chapter 11: Unnecessary and unwanted surprises**

Shadow's POV

I distantly heard some giggling. I opened my eyes a slit. Blinded by light, I moaned, shut my eyes, and snuggled closer to whatever I was snuggling against. The giggling became louder.

"Ssh guys," Max said. Whatever I was snuggling against moved slightly. Someone was probably trying to wake me up. I groaned and nuzzled closer to my makeshift pillow, which was moving rhythmically.

**Getting a little comfy there?**

_Leave me alone, Fang. I'm trying to rest._

**Alright.** I could feel him smirking. What the hell was going on?

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I heard Hunter say. His voice was so close, my eyes shot open, surprised. I saw the entire Flock staring at me. I immediately felt uncomfortable.

"What?" I asked. I followed their direct line of vision to...Hunter's chest. My face was leaning against it. I straightened up and removed my arms from...him. I felt his arms that were around me. "Oh-um Hunter...Can you remove your arms? I need to stretch."

Hunter looked at me, as if noticing me for the first time. His eyes widened and his face turned red. He removed his arms and mumbled sheepishly, "Oops. Sorry."

"It's okay," I said and glared at the Flock. Angel and Nudge were giggling. The Gasman and Iggy were making kissing faces. I narrowed my eyes."Very mature, Iggy."

"I know," he said. Fang and Max were smirking and I was about to knock both of their heads together.

_I'm SO gonna get you back._

**Yeah SURE.**

_Don't doubt my abilities to make your life a living hell._

"Alright, is everyone done staring at Hunter and Shadow? Yes? Then finish breakfast," Max said. I snickered and looked at breakfast. It was dry cereal and hot orange juice. I shrugged and dug in. I stopped being picky over food after being hungry for three months straight. After breakfast, we all started flying towards our destination. After a few minutes of flying, my muscles started relaxing. It was so beautiful up in the sky. I looked down and my inner GPS system told me we were crossing the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border. I breathed in fresh air and looked around.

Max was in the lead and Nudge was talking to her about...something. Gazzy and Iggy were talking quietly about something. Most likely bombs. And I am close to finding out where their supplies are hidden. Angel had just surged up to where Nudge and Max were, her pure white wings shining in the sunlight. I looked at Fang to see him staring at Max. I stared at him until he noticed me. I could tell he was embarrassed. I gave him an unholy grin and winked.

_Don't worry. I won't tell...yet._

**HEY! Don't you dare-. **I blocked him out. He was glaring at me. Hunter came near me.

"Why did you have that smile on your face?" he asked.

"What smile?" I asked innocently.

"That smile you get when you're going to do something...evil," he said.

"Me? Evil? Nah," I said. He gave me a I got me eye on you look. "What? I'm not going to do anything illegal."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Last time I checked...never mind," I said, not wanting to tell him.

"Aw come on. Tell me!" Hunter said.

"Nope."

"C'mon!" Hunter said, putting out his lower lip and pouting.

"Alright wait a sec," I said, giving in. I went up to Fang who was looking at me suspiciously.

"What?" he asked. I tossed him my Mp3 player.

"You wanted to listen to it. Right now is a good time," I said, shrugging. He took it and turned it on. I went back to Hunter and put a finger to my lips. Quietly, I slipped into Fang's mind. The music was blaring in it. I tuned back in and looked at Hunter. He was looking at me intently. I smiled. Then his eyes unfocused, he cried out and started plummeting towards the ground.

"Hunter!" I cried out. I tucked in my wings and went after him. He was going down fast and the ground was coming closer. I managed to grab his foot. I snapped open my wings and started flapping rapidly, a desperate attempt to slow us down. I grabbed his arm, let go of his leg and grabbed his other arm. I noticed the ground was a few feet down and I felt sick. He was very close to going splat. I landed and laid Hunter down. He was clutching his head, so I knew he was having a brain attack.

"Dammit," I hissed. He started screaming in pain. I put my hand on his forehead and drew it back quickly. He was burning hot! His tears were sizzling on his face. I dragged him towards the lake that was close by and threw a little bit of water on him.

**Where are you?**

Shadow, are you okay?

_I'm okay, Angel. Hunter's having a brain attack. Fang, I'm near the lake that we just passed._

**You went through a bunch of trees.**

_Oh. I guess that doesn't register when you're falling that fast._

I refocused on Hunter to see that he wasn't where I left him. I looked around desperately to find him by a bunch of bushes, letting his breakfast out. I kept my eyes down, went next to him, rubbed in between his wings, and started humming a random tune. Once he was done barfing, he just sat down, gasping. He cracked open and eye and rasped "Shadow?"

"I'm here. Ssh, ssh, calm down," I said, massaging his wings. He relaxed and started breathing normally. I looked at him. His golden eyes were glassy, dull, and bloodshot. His hair was matted and he was very sweaty and in serious need of a bath.

"Water," he rasped out. I lead him to the lake and bent to drink. It was fine. I beckoned to him and he started to drink as well. I looked at him, smiled evilly, and dunked his whole head in the water. I cackled and brought him back up. He glared at me while trying to get oxygen back into his lungs. I smiled innocently. A twig snapped and I whirled around. And someone appeared that I could've gone on with the rest of my life without seeing.

Annabell. **(A/N: MWA HA HA...sorry)**

"Oh perfect," I said. She grinned evilly. I had this feeling that she wasn't really looking at me. I whirled around and cursed loudly.

Because Omega was behind Hunter.

And had a gun at Hunters head.

"Miss me?" Omega hissed.

"Nope. Not really," Hunter retorted.

"Oh. How unfortunate. Of course, I wasn't addressing you Hunter. I was talking to the lovely lady over there," Omega said, nodding his head towards me. I gritted my teeth. Annabell walked near me and started to go for back pocket. I quickly sent her a roundhouse kick. She stumbled back and I ran to her her and punched her face hard. I felt her nose crack under my fist. She fell to the ground. I saw and retrieved the gun from her back pocket before she could reach for it again. I hurled it out to the forest and went into my fighters stance.

"See, I'm not like you. I don't need a weapon to win," I said.

"You know, you and I would make perfect mates if you weren't such a smart ass," Omega said. Annabell started to get up. I saw the Flock in the distance.

"Me and you. Well, that's disturbing," I said.

"Oh, don't be so impolite. I look like Zac Efron," he said.**(A/N: Has any one else noticed that Omega's description sorta fits Zac Efron?)** I blinked and stared at him. Well, he sorta does...

"Hey! Wonder boy!" Max called landing, and slipping into her fighters stance. The rest of the Flock followed suit.

"Oh, well if it isn't Maximum Ride," Omega said, faking cheeriness, "Why, hello Maximum."

"Call for backup?" Annabell asked standing at full height and reaching for her watch.

"I'm sure we could handle a few failed experiments," Omega said.

"I was thinking the same thing," I snarled. Omega glanced at me and looked at me up and down hungrily. I only need one word to describe _that._ Creepy.

"That's why we're so perfect together, _honey_," he hissed. I tried not to shiver. Hunter growled angrily, twisted the gun out of Omegas grip and hurled it into the lake. It went in with a **plop**! Hunter rolled up and placed an impressive roundhouse kick on Omegas thigh.

Omega yelled at Annabell to call for help. I ran over to stop her but it was too late. Erasers were popping out of nowhere. Immediately, everyone launched at them. I set my sights on Annabell and smiled demoniacally. Payback time!

I ran up to her and gave her a taste of my uppercut. She fell backwards. I jumped on her and started trouncing her. She started screaming angrily at me and she managed to turn the tables. I punched her even when she was on top of me and cleared my vision. I distantly heard Omega shout in triumph. I jumped up, looked around, and saw Omega smash Hunter's head against the ground.

"BASTERD!" I screamed out. But Annabell decided to be funny, pull out a knife, and slice my arm. I hissed and she laughed. I whirled around and gave her a full powered uppercut. I felt her jaw break and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

I winced, feeling a bit guilty. Then I turned my attention back to Omega, who was standing over a crumpled Hunter. I saw red and tackled him and we both tumbled to the ground until we stopped near a unconscious Eraser, where I was on top of him. He looked out of it and a smiled sadly. Hunter did a good job. I looked up. Max was doing good against three Erasers. The Gasman and Angel were working well together, but they were faltering. Nudge was going down and Iggy was trying to go to her aid but the Erasers were piling on him. Fang was trying his best against five of Erasers.

"Personally," Omega hissed. My eyes widened in surprise when he turned the tables and he was straddling me. "I like to be on top."

"Get. Off. Me." I said struggling but to no avail. He was too strong.

"Here's a surprise," he hissed. Then he snapped out two perfect silver blue wings. I felt my eyes widen.

"Wha-" I started but stopped. He leaned down till our noses were touching.

_FANG! GET THIS BASTERD OFF ME NOW!!!!_

"We're perfect...you and I," he breathed. I felt queasy inside.

"No. Get off me right now before I really hurt you," I threatened. He sneered.

"You'll come crawling to me once you figure out that that freak over there is imperfect, and that I'm the faultless one. You'll see. But until then..." he backed away from me. Then punched me. HARD. Then again and again. Ceaselessly, until I felt myself slipping away from me. Then it stopped. But then a new pain came when I was thrown against a tree. I laid there until I felt it was safe enough to open my eyes. My right eye was swollen shut and my face felt awful.

I looked around. And was shocked. There was so many Erasers. They had called for like 25 or 30. Angel was on the ground with her brother crumpled over her. Total was growling near them. Tears of anger sprang into my eyes. He went down trying to protect her. Nudge was curled up near a tree. Iggy was lying on the ground face first. Hunter was unconscious in a different spot though. Fang was still up against the last 2 Erasers. Max was against Omega, both of them looked like they were going to fall to the ground from exhaustion.

Then, Omega swept the ground of Max's feet. She fell down.

"Your choice. Come with us. Or die," he said. She laughed. His face twisted into a angry expression. He started to strangle her. I tried to get up but my body refused to listen.

"NO!" Fang shouted. He had finished off the 2 Erasers and now was pissed. He went after Omega. But Omega was in better shape than Fang. He chocked Max with on hand and punched Fang with the other. Fang hit the ground. I still couldn't get up.

"Leave them alone!" I screamed. Omega came and and kicked me in the head. I felt like a noodle as I flopped to the ground, unable to do anything. Fang got up again but this time Omega was ready. He grabbed Fang's neck and slammed him on the rock on the ground.

Tears fell down my cheeks. Omega looked and smiled at me. "I guess the paralyzing shot worked after all."

"YOU DID THIS TO ME?" I screamed.

"For my safety. Didn't want you to go into inhuman savagery while I'm around," he said. He turned his attention back to Max who was becoming limp.

"Say hello to Ari for me," Omega hissed. Her eyes were shutting.

"NO!" I screamed. Then, Fang's head shot up from the ground. His hair covered his eyes. Omega let Max fall to the ground.

"You just don't quit, do you?" Omega hissed. Fang looked up and Omega backed up. I looked at Fang. And gasped.

Fangs whole eye was black.

Oh God.

He was in cold fury.

**Me:He's in what?! I don't know what happens next.(looks around to see everyone staring at her) Alright! I do know what happens next. But if **_**you**_** want to know then review:) **


	12. We're feeling furyious

**Me: Okay, I'm finally back and I'm feeling HAPPY!**

**Shadow:...what the hell?**

**Hunter: She got accepted to this program at Julliard for flute.**

**Shadow:...Oh.**

**Me: Bad thing about it is that it takes up time. When my school starts, so will the program, so I'll be extra busy.**

**Shadow: No time for us! How rude!**

**Me: Oh COOL! I heard Nintendo likes Evanescence. Cool! Two of my favorite things...(keeps talking) **

**Shadow:Anyways...Kim doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Hunter: But she owns us and the plot so just give her credit if you use it. Kim, shut up about Nintendo and Evanescence.**

**Me: Okay...Thanks for all the reviews! The last chapter was the second most popular chapter. The most reviewed was chapter 9. Anyways...on with the story.**

**Chapter 12: We're feeling fury-ious**

Shadow's POV

Cold Fury Fang glared at Omega. Omega, already experienced in the area of getting beat up by people in Cold Fury, was backing up, scared. Cold Fury Fang growled, and spread his glowing black wings. Goodness, my brother really did look like the Angel of Death.

Omega was backing off and he tripped over a unconscious Eraser. That was when Fang jumped on him. Fang, repeatedly punched Omegas face. I winced every time I heard a crack. Then I realized that if Fang continued, he may do something that he will regret. Like kill Omega.

"Fang! He's not worth it! Leave him!" I screamed. Fang looked at me, which made me shiver unwillingly. Was I that scary in Cold Fury?

Omega took his chance and scrambled off, grabbing Annabell and dragging her out of the forest with him. Fang growled angrily after them. He then, he looked and walked towards me. I gulped. I didn't have a good feeling about this.

He stopped right in front of me and growled. I started to feel sick and I closed my eyes. I regained myself and opened my eyes. And I was outside myself.

Great.

I was in Cold Fury too.

Can this day get any worse?

It was like watching a movie. I watched myself get up, brush myself off. The Cold Fury siblings exchanged a look and nodded. They started locating the rest of the Flock.

Cold Fury Shadow, or as I like to say, CFS, went over to Angel and the Gasman. Total growled at her. CFS growled back and pointed to the baby carrier. Total stared at her, went to the carrier, and sat down. CFS, then hauled Angel and the Gasman over each of her shoulders. She went over to Nudge and held her with one arm and held the carrier with the other.

CFF (Cold Fury Fang) hauled Iggy over to one shoulder and hauled Hunter over the other. Then he picked up Max and held her bridal style. Both CFS and CFF spread their wings and flew off. I felt myself being dragged with them. They were flying fast at like 150 mph. Faster than I have ever flew. I looked at everyone in the Flock. Still unconscious. I sighed then felt myself being dragged down. They landed and put everyone down somewhere. I felt queasy again. I closed my eyes and felt myself falling and slipping into darkness.

No! I thought and fought to stay awake. I opened my eyes and stared at the dark sky. I was back in body again.

Swell.

I looked around. It looked like we were attacked by animals. Oh wait...we were...

Anyways, I looked at everyone. I got Fang's face off the ground and laid him down. My eyes widened. The bruises on his face were rapidly healing.

"Good God," I muttered. I looked at everyone else. It seemed that I was going to have to play Nurse Shadow.

Oh joy.

I looked at Fang. He would be fine in a few minutes of so. I heard voices and froze.

"Total?" I called.

"Yes?"

"Can you scout the area?" I asked.

"Yes ma'am," he said, giving me a doggy salute. I couldn't help but smirk as he walked off. I got the first aid kit and started off with Angel. All Angel had was bruises. A few on her arms and legs. I sat her up. We didn't have any ice. I bit my lip and left her alone. There was nothing I could do. The Gasman had a few bumps, bruises and scratches. I put band-aids on all of the scratches. I moved onto the next person on line. Nudge had a black eye and her shoulder was out of place. I closed my eyes and popped it back into place feeling sick. Oh Lord. I was _so _not cut out to be a doctor. I crawled to a bush and started barfing.

Today was so _not_ my day.

Total came back after I was done puking my guts out. "There's a trail nearby but that's about it."

"Thanks Total," I said, my voice hoarse."Are you injured in any way, shape, or form?"

"Nope," He said settling back into the baby carrier.

"Good," I said. I turned to the next patient. Iggy. Both of his eyes were swollen shut and there was cuts along his arms. I grabbed bandages and used them to staunch any more blood flow. But it seemed it had already stopped. Lucky him.

Max was next. Her nose was bleeding. Nothing I could do to stop that. And a black eye. Nothing I could do about that either. Then I saw her wrist. My eyes watered and I almost threw up again. Her wrist was twisted in a _really_ awkward angle. I grabbed Fang's laptop, logged onto the Internet, and went onto wikipedia. It basically said make a cast. I rummaged through the kit and found some plaster. I heard Fang groan and I sighed in relief.

"Shadow?" he said.

"Thank God you're up," I said.

"What are you doing? We don't have much of that," he said.

"Yea, I know. But I need to make a cast for Max and-"

"What?" his tone was concerned and worried. I looked at him.

"Her wrist is broken," he crawled over, examined it and waved me off.

"I'll do it. Don't worry...is there any one that still needs to be treated?" Fang said. I breathed a sigh of relief. I definatly would've threw up if I had to treat a broken bone.

"Yea, Hunter," I crawled over to Hunter. He had a split lip and a huge bruise on his forehead. I was about to relax when I listened to his breathing. It has labored and it sounded painful. I stared at him.

"Fang," I said my voice sounding scared. Fang came over, still mixing the plaster. He looked at me questionably. "Listen."

He concentrated and then said, "Check his ribs." I lifted Hunter's shirt. And almost screamed. He had a really ugly bruise. I gulped and closed my eyes and counted to 10. Fang grimaced and went to the first aid kit.

"Wake him up and give him these," Fang tossed me some pills. Pain killers. I shook him awake.

"Ow...I hurt," Hunter moaned, opening his eyes.

"How bad?" I asked.

"Somewhat bad," he said.

"Here," I said, shoving the pill and water at him. He took it and gulped it down. I lightly touched they bruise.

"Ouch! Watch it!" he said. I heard Angel and the Gasman stir and Iggy get up.

"You okay, Iggy?" I asked

"It's not so bad. Where are we?" Iggy answered.

"We're in a clearing. Can you go help Fang. Max has a broken wrist," I said. Iggy got up stiffly, and went over to the area.

"What?! Max has a broken wrist?!" he said in alarm.

"Calm down. It's fine. You may have a broken rib of two so calm down and let me check it out," I said. He settled down. I felt each of his ribs...and sighed in relief. I seemed to be doing that alot. All of his ribs were in place.

"What?" he asked.

"You're fine but be careful this bruise is serious," I said. He cautiously got up and carefully stretched.

"Ouch," he said. I sensed Angel get up behind me.

"I feel stiff all over," she said.

"You okay?" I asked turning around. She nodded. "Try to get your brother and Nudge up," I said. She went over to him. I went to where Fang, Iggy and Hunter were. Max was starting to wake up.

"Iggy, I think if you start dinner then everyone will wake up," Hunter said.

"Good idea," Iggy said.

"Ugh...I feel sick," the Gasman said. I went over to him.

"Do you need to throw up?" I asked softly. He nodded. I lifted him up and brought him to the bushes. He puked. I almost cried.

"Iggy, toss some water over here," I called. He threw some at me with surprisingly good accuracy. I caught it and gave some to the Gasman.

"Don't drink too much. You might throw up again," I said. He nodded and gave the bottle back to me.

"My shoulder feels weird," Nudge said, surprising me with a short sentence.

"Yeah, I had to relocate it while you were asleep," I said. I saw her wince. The Gasman got up and stretched.

I heard a moan. I whirled around and saw Max's eyes flutter open.

"Where-"Max started.

"Don't worry. We're safe now. Be careful, your left wrist is broken," Fang said.

"Perfect," she muttered sourly. She propped herself up against the tree.

"Well, at least you're not a lefty, like Shadow," Hunter said. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You're a lefty?" Fang asked. I nodded. "Me too," he said. **(A/N: I dunno if Fang is a lefty or not. I've just always imagined him a lefty.)** YES! Another lefty! Finally!

"Cool," I was all I said.

"Dinner's ready," Iggy said. We all ate dinner. The younger ones and Total drifted off to sleep, which left me, Iggy, Hunter, Fang and Max to talk.

"So, what's with Omega? He never used to be that...social," Max said.

"Upgrade," I answered. Hunter nodded.

"So wonder boy wasn't always so friendly...never would've guessed," Iggy said.

"Me neither," Fang said.

"They gave him another upgrade," I said. Everyone stared at me.

"What now?" Hunter said, "Laser vision, levitation, telekinesis, what?"

"Wings," I said. Everyone froze and processed the information. Then everyone said something at once.

"You can't be serious," Hunter said.

"Perfect," Fang muttered.

"Haven't you heard? Being part bird is all the rage now," Iggy said.

"I guess the Director has a new obsession with bird kids now," Max said. There was silence.

"This sucks," Hunter said suddenly.

"Did you just realize that or did it take you a while?" Iggy said. I chuckled and Hunter glared at Iggy.

"What happened after Omega choked me? I heard this big commotion afterwards before I blacked out," Max asked me. I stared at Fang, who was concentrating on the fire.

"Fang went into Cold Fury," I said. Max and Hunter's eyes widened and Iggy turned to Fang's general direction.

"Oh. I just thought I finally went crazy," Fang said calmly. I snickered. We talked for a little more. Then, I was tired so I said my good-nights and sat by a tree. My last sight was the night sky calm and watching.

**Me:Ugh...I really hated how this chapter came out. Whatever. Please review, the next chapter will be better I promise. :) **


	13. Old Pasts and New Beginnings

**Me: I'm back. Yay!**

**Shadow:Sure...**

**Hunter: Yeah...yay...**

**Me: Be quiet before I uncreate you.**

**Hunter: But everyone loves me!**

**Shadow: They love me more.**

**Hunter: Wanna bet?**

**Shadow: Don't blame me when YOU LOSE!**

**Me: Can you argue after you do your job?!**

**Hunter: YOU'RE THE ONE THAT'S GONNA LOSE!**

**Shadow: WANNA BET?!**

**Me: Ugh...I'LL DO IT MYSELF! I'm not the middle aged man named James Patterson so I don't own Maximum Ride. But I am the teenage girl named-**

**Hunter: YOU'RE GOING DOWN!**

**Me: -so I do own my plot and these two idiots.**

**Hunter & Shadow: HEY!**

**Me: I'm going to my room. You tell the freaking story. (goes to room and slams door)**

**Hunter: Told you if we argued that we wouldn't have to do the disclaimer.**

**Shadow: But now we have to tell the story.**

**Hunter:...Crap...**

**Me: (from room) You think I would trust YOU two to tell the story?! HA! NEVER! I'm doing it. On with the story!**

**Chapter 13: Old pasts and New beginnings**

Shadow's POV

"So this is your mothers house," I said. 4 days of resting, eating, and flying cross-country and we finally arrived. I shook out my legs, which felt rubbery from flying for so long. Hunter did the same thing next to me. During the last 4 days, he had no brain attacks. Good for him.

"Yeah. Just stay behind us," Max said. Her and Fang took the lead with the others in front of me and Hunter. I noticed that Iggy kept nervously tapping his thigh with his fingers. Was he nervous? I wonder why.

Max knocked on the door. Almost immediately, the door opened, revealing a 13 year old girl with pale skin, brown eyes and brown hair.

"Max! Fang! What took you guy so long?" she said, wrangling both of them into a big hug. Fang stiffened while Max returned it.

"Hey Ella. Is Jeb or Mom in there?" Max asked.

"No he just went out and Mom's at work," she said giving Angel and Gazzy a big hug.

"Hey Ella," Angel said.

"Hey," Gazzy greeted. Ella moved on to Nudge.

"Hey Ella! I have so much to tell you about-" Nudge started until Max shot her a look. Ella moved on to Iggy. As soon as Ella hugged him, Iggy turned a crimson color. I blinked. So that's why he was so nervous. Hunter spread his wings a bit and did a air bow and arrow and pretended to shoot it in Iggy's direction. I chuckled and gave him a high five. Ella, startled by the noise, turned to look at us.

"Oh," she said shyly. "Hi." She avoided eye contact, obviously intimidated by our...unique eye color. "You must be Hunter and Shadow."

"Hey," Hunter said. I stood quiet. She looked at me then Fang. Oh, so, I guess she knew. Then she stared at Hunter, then looked away.

"Oh! Where's my manners! Come in! All of you," she said. She went in first followed by Max and the rest of the Flock.

"No hug? I feel so left out," Hunter muttered, only for me to hear. I chuckled and we both went in. The house felt a bit crowded. It must've been because of the 8 hybrids, their dog, the human, and her dog. Just a guess.

The Flock was crashed in various places. I decided to stand like Fang and Hunter. Why? Cause I'm funny like that.

"So...is anyone hungry or in need of a bath beca-" Ella started but was cut off.

"Both," Total called.

"Both," Angel said.

"Hungry," Gasman said.

Nudge started rambling, "I'm hungry but then I am really in need of a bath. Do you have enough food for all of us? And soap. Do you have enough soap for all of us? Do you have our towels from last time? I remember my towel. It was so soft and plush. Was that like a name brand towel or something cause it seems like it was. How much does a name brand towel cost? Do those even exist? I me-"

"Alright Nudge, we get it," Iggy cut in. Nudge finally shut her trap. Finally. Okay, Nudge is nice and sweet, but sometimes she just WON'T SHUT UP. It drives me nuts. Yesterday my eye was twitching so much, Hunter said that I was sending Morse Code for the other birds to attack Nudge.

"_Every_one is taking a bath. Angel, go first," Max said.

"Alright Max," Angel said. Ella ushered her off to get soap and towels. I saw everyone relax. I felt this throbbing pain on my top canine teeth. I ignored it. Fang had been getting it too but didn't saw anything to Max. So neither did I. I heard the shower go off and Ella popped into the room. She went and sat down next to Max and started talking. I looked around and then the room started getting blurry.

_Flashback_

"Ugh! When will it be ready?" I called out to Brian.

"They're done," Brian said in a sing-song voice.

"Finally," I muttered. Brian came in, putting a turkey T.V. Dinner in front of me and sat down with his.

"Thanksgiving dinner, huh?" I said, picking up the pathetic slab of turkey up with my fork.

"Put that down, Sky! We need to give thanks," Brian hissed. I put it down.

"I give thanks to whoever packed this dinner. I bet you, whoever you are, put so much time and effort into making this," I said in a mocking tone. Brian glared at me so I decided to shut up.

"I'm grateful for my family, and having plenty of food, and for having a place to stay," Brian said. He gave me this look that said your turn. I hated public speeches, even if it was just me and my best friend.

"Me too. Family, food. Place to stay." My dark eyes met his hazel ones and I felt my face flush. Oh yeah, I was grateful for him too. But no one would catch me dead saying _that_ out loud.

Brian blinked and said, "So shall we begin the feast of champions?"

"As soon as you get the others out of the oven. You know about our abnormal stomachs," I said. He chuckled and left. When he came back he had two more.

"The others are in the oven. Shall we begin _now_?" Brian pressed on.

"We shall," I said, and we dug in.

_End Flashback_

I blinked and cleared my vision. Everyone was, thankfully, not staring at me. I looked around. Hunter was sitting with Iggy and talking. Angel was back from the shower and was talking with Nudge, Total, Ella, and Max. Fang was spacing out. I noticed that the Gasman was gone. I relaxed a bit and sank to the floor. So, we were finally here and could relax a bit.

"Fang," I said. He looked at me. "Laptop?" He nodded and passed it to me. I turned it on, went on the Internet, and checked my e-mail. I blinked. Wow. I had a lot of e-mails.

"You're next Nudge," the Gasman said, his hair dripping wet. Nudge got up and went to the shower.

I turned my attention back to the computer. I clicked on the messages and clicked to read the most recent one. It read:

_I don't no what's up Sky. Did u and Brian run away and got hitched? jk. But no joke, we've mailed u and went to ur apartment and ur folks nor Brian's answered. Me, Lies, Cassie, and Ghost r worried. Plz Sky. Just tell me if ur alive. Some people r even saying that Annabell killed u, kidnapped Brian, and is keeping him in her basement..._

Now at that I started giggling. At first it was because of the joke, but then it was because of how much I missed them. It was a dull, aching feeling that made me want to start crying. But I didn't. I started to laugh harder and harder until I thought my sides would split. Water streamed out of my eyes because I was laughing so hard. I was hearing this maniacal sound but didn't stop to check it out. I barely noticed it when Hunter came over. He looked at the screen and his astonished expression turned to one of sadness. He put his arm around me.

"I miss them too," he said. That was enough to shut me up. I really wanted to sit in a corner, wrap my wings around myself, and cry. But that's not my style. So I didn't.

"Who's 'them'?" Max asked.

"Our friends, Crystal but she likes to be called Chris, Henry, but we call him Lies, Cass or Cassandra, and Vincent or, as we call him Ghost," Hunter said.

"Ghost?" Fang asked. That made me smirk. Him of all people, picking on peoples names.

"Shut up, _Fang_," I said. That made everyone relax for some reason. Nudge came back from her shower.

"Oh my God. That was good! I never knew showers were so relaxing. But now I have to deal with my hair. It's going to-is everyone okay? There's something wrong. Did Erasers attack or someth-Mmmph!" Fang cut Nudge off by putting his hand over her mouth.

"You're next Ig," he said. Iggy stretched from his spot and went to the bathroom. Nudge sat down and I decided to read the rest of the e-mail.

_...lmao at the last part. You'd probably come up from the dead and kill her. Anyways, plz Sky or Brian, plz e-mail one of us back. Just let us no if ur alright._

_-Chris, Cass, Lies, and Ghost_

Yep. That _was_ them. Our best friends. That's us. Brian...oops Hunter was always the head, the defender in case one of us got in trouble(which happened a lot). I was always the quiet one, the strong one, the right-hand woman. Lies was always getting into some sort of trouble. Chris was the most social out of all of us. She always had connections with people. Cass was the innocent do-good girl that almost always had me, Brian, and Ghost getting into fights because people wouldn't leave her alone. Ghost was the smart ass of the group. I sighed. At the school, I always had this fantasy that they would let me and Hunter go and we would return to our friends like nothing.

I was really out of touch with reality.

"Shadow, your turn," Iggy said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I got up and went to the hallway, where I followed the wet trail to the bathroom. Once I was there, I located where Ella threw towels for us and soap. I stripped off all my clothes, got in, pulled the curtain, and turned on the shower. I hissed when I felt the water. I HATED hot showers, or anything to DO with heat for that matter. Well, except the color black of course.

I turned on the shower knob so that it was freezing cold. Ah. That was better. I quickly washed myself and my hair. I thought I heard the door but I brushed it off. I stepped out the shower and put a towel around me. I looked up and noticed a certain BOY there...

"IGGY!" I shrieked, outraged.

"Oh, hey Shadow," he said, turning on the sink.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY 'HEY'?! YOU WERE JUST IN HERE! YOU DON'T NEED TO BE IN HERE!" I shouted. He better get out right now or else...

"But I need to-"

"I DON'T FREAKING CARE! GET THE HELL OUT THE FREAKING BATHROOM!" I screamed. I could hear the rest of the Flock laughing their asses off in the living room, which made me even more pissed.

"But I'm _blind_! It's not like I could see _anything_. I don't even know if you _have_ anything," he reasoned. That blew me over the edge.

"Get out, Get OUT, GET OUT!" I screamed, pushing him out of the bathroom and slamming the door. I put on my clothes before anyone else made any _surprise_ visits. I stomped out the bathroom into the living room, where everyone tried to stifle their laughter.

"Fang, hit the showers before I hit you," I said.

"Why are you threatening me? I didn't go in the bathroom while you were getting out the shower," he said.

"Cause you could've freaking _warned_ me," I said. He glared playfully at me and went to the bathroom.

"Max?" I asked.

"Yea Shadow," she answered.

"Can I tell my friend that I'm alright,"

She debated in her head for a few moments and then said, "Yea. Just don't give anything away."

I nodded and decided to reward her with a real smile. She blinked in surprise. "Thanks." I sat down and took the laptop from Hunter.

"Hey!" he protested.

"I'm using it, buddy boy," I said.

"You're mean to me, you know that,"

"Your point is?" I said. He leaned in and his head on my shoulder. I felt my genetically enhanced heart go aflutter and swallowed it down. I mean c'mon people, I don't _like_ Hunter...do I? Then my eyes widened. _Uh-oh._

"What?" Hunter said. I heard Fang slip in the shower. Oh SHIT! I am in so much trouble when he comes out. The rest of the Flock (except me and Max) busted out laughing.

"FANG?!" Max called out in concern.

"I'm okay," he answered.

"Don't you have those grippy things on the shower floor?" Gazzy asked Ella.

"Yea," Ella said. That made everyone laugh harder. I even chuckled.

**Don't you DARE start or I'll tell everyone what you just thought.**

_Really? I guess you want everyone to know about your feelings foe Max?_

**What?! I don't-**

_Oh, don't lie, I know. I'm in your head and I can hear your thoughts. Not to mention that it even says it in Wikipedia. _

I heard the shower turn off. Max looked at Hunter, who was still hanging around on my shoulder. "Did you say something?"

"Nope," he answered. They had been doing that a lot in the last few days. Hmm...

I looked back at the e-mail. There was so much I wanted to say to Chris. She was like a sister to me. But then I couldn't spill. I'll just keep it simple.

_We're alright_

_-Sky_

I winced when I hit the send button.

"You couldn't have typed anything shorter?" Hunter asked.

"Shut up," I mumbled. Fang came in and I heard a few chuckles.

"Alright, alright," Fang muttered, "Who's next?" Max and Hunter exchanged a look.

"You go," they said at the exact same time. I blinked.

"No, you go. I don't mind being dirty for a few more minutes," Hunter said. Max shrugged and went off to the shower. Then, the phone rang and Ella answered it.

"Hello? Oh hey Mom...I'm okay...Yeah. Guess what? The Flock's here!...They're all here...all of them..." My eyebrow went up at that part. "...Jeb went out a while ago...yeah, okay...bye Mom," she hung up the phone. "Mom's coming soon." I looked at Hunter. He looked very nervous. I gave him a reassuring smile.

**You like him. **Grr...annoying ass brothers!

_I DO NOT!_

**Yes you do.**

_NO, I DON'T!_

**You're in denial.**

_If I was in denial, I would be in a river in Egypt, not here listening to your annoying thoughts! _I shut him out.

"That was corny," Fang said aloud.

"I. Don't. Care. Just shut up," I said. Everyone looked at us questionably. "It's nothing guys. Fang's just being annoying."

"And Shadow's in a river in Egypt," Fang said. I elbowed him in the shin, hard. He winced and glared down at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and looked for games on the Internet. Oh goodie. Diner Dash.

Max came back into the living room. "Your turn Hunter," she said. Hunter got up and went to go shower.

**You would like to see that.**

_Shut up pervert!_ I heard Angel giggle from across the room. I looked at her in alarm.

_You heard-_

Every word.

**Angel- **Fang started but my concentration broke when I heard the door unlocking. Two people entered. One was a thirty-something year old man with dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, and a pink scar on his jawline. I blinked twice and stood up, putting the laptop to one side. I stared at the male.

Oh God.

Now I know what Hunter would've looked like in twenty years if the whitecoats had left him human.

The other person, a women, who was giving away hugs like they were going to go out of style, had brown hair, brown eyes, and a warm smile.

"Max! Everyone! I'm so glad to see you all alive and well again," she said. Max went over and they hugged.

"Hey Mom. Glad to see you again," Max said.

"So," the man said. I looked at him. All my muscles were tense. The little Miss Anti-social in my head was screaming 'Too many people!' I swallowed. "You're Shadow." I didn't even bother to nod. I just continued to stare at him. He just continued to talk. _Now_ I know why Max hated the Voice so much. "I'm Jebediah Batchleder **(A/N: Just wanted to give him a full name.)** but just call me Jeb."

I just continued to stare at him like he was crazy.

"Hello, I'm Valencia Martinez, just call me Dr. Martinez," the lady said. I nodded in a 'good for you' fashion. She held out her hand as if expecting me to take it. I just stared at her and her hand. I think I should get a shirt that says anti-social on it so people don't have to put me through this crap.

"I'm feeling de ja vu," Max muttered. Fang smirked and I heard the shower turn off.

I swallowed. "Excuse me." I went past them to the bathroom. I waited out there, tapping my foot impatiently. Hunter finally stepped out, his hair dripping wet.

"What?" he asked.

"Dr. Martinez and Jeb are here," I said. He froze.

"No joke," he said, nervously. I shook my head. He swallowed.

"Well...let's go," I said. He nodded numbly. We went back to the living room. Immediately, everyone stopped talking. My stomach flipped. I _hated _those awkward silences. Then Jeb stood up and held out his hand.

"Hello Hunter," Jeb said, "I am your possible father."

Damn. Talk about straight out.

**Me: Fingers...tired...long chappie 2 type...you...know...drill...reveiw:)**


	14. Hunter's Secret Obsession

**Me: Who's read my other story?**

**Shadow:(low & deadly tone) You have another story?**

**Hunter: You're abandoning us?!**

**Me: NO! No...**

**Hunter: Yes you are!**

**Me: No because you are in the other story.**

**Shadow...okay...(relaxes)**

**Hunter: Oh.**

**Me: Now can you do the disclaimer?**

**Shadow: She (points to Me) does not own Maximum Ride.**

**Hunter: But she owns us and our plot.**

**Me: Starting chapter 14 right...now.**

**Chapter 14: Hunter's Secret Obsession**

Shadow's POV

I opened my eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. Then I realized I was on a soft bed and froze. Where was I...? I heard Hunter's soft breathing and relaxed then froze again. What the...Why was he so close? I turned around and almost rolled off the bed in surprise. He was right next to me. Why..? Ugh, I hate being slow in the mornings!

Oh...yeah, now I remember! It had something to do with the smaller and larger kid fitting in one bed. I looked at the higher bed and saw Max sleeping soundly on the bed and Fang sleeping sitting up on the floor. I winced. He was going to feel stiff when he gets up. I got up from the bed, took my backpack, and went to the bathroom. Dr. Martinez and Ella were sleeping in Dr. Martinez's room. Jeb was sleeping in the living room. Angel, the Gasman, Nudge and Iggy were squeezed into the guest room. Me, Hunter, Fang and Max were sleeping in Ella's room.

Ella had one of those beds that you pull out one bed from under the top bed for when her friends slept over. Hunter and I were sleeping on the lower bed and and Fang and Max were supposed to sleep on the top bed. But I guess Fang wanted to be mister chivalrous and sleep on the ground. I shook my head and changed out of the tank top and put on my shirt. I rolled my shoulders because they were so stiff.

I put on my stockings, skirt, and combat boots and silently (or as silently as you can with combat boots) walked out the bathroom and into the room. Everyone was still sleeping although Hunter kept tossing and turning...I brushed it off. Hunter was a big boy. He could take care of himself.

I left again and was going to leave to the yard when I heard someone call, "Shadow." I turned around and saw Jeb coming towards me. Great.

It's not that I don't like him. He seems nice enough. But he talks. I don't talk. End of discussion. I stared at him. He looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"Good morning. Would you like to get an early start on breakfast?" he asked. I shook my head, not hungry yet. Then an awkward silence ensued. I so hated those. I decided to break it. Get this, it will be the first time he will hear my voice. Or at least the first time I would be addressing him.

"I'm just going for a flight," I said. He looked at me and smiled. Hey dude, don't let this word spew get to your head.

"Oh really?" he said. No duh. Why the hell would I lie to you? I kept back the snarky response and just nodded. "Can I see your wings?" I thought about it. This dude used to be a whitecoat...but then, he is in a house with 8 bird kids that kick his ass if he tried to do anything sneaky. I nodded my consent.

"Alright then, let's go outside," he said. We walked out the back door and into open space. I didn't like open space. I swallowed down all my doubt, walked up a few steps, and unleashed 13 feet of silver from my back. My wings felt so much better out instead of being cramped up on my back. I sighed in content, then rearranged my expression to one of impassiveness. I turned around to face him . A small smile was on his face.

"Can I get a feather?" he asked. Okay...weird request...but okay. I shook out my wings and a few loose feathers fell to the ground. I bent down and retrieved one and gave it to him. He put on his glasses and held the feather up to the sun, examining it. "Thank you Shadow. I'll head back inside and finish my morning coffee." I nodded again and saw someone coming towards us. I looked over Jeb's shoulder and he turned around.

"Hello Jeb," Hunter said. I smirked when I recognized him. But there was something wrong...

"Oh, good morning Hunter," Jeb said. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yea, a few minutes ago," Hunter said. I saw him shudder and I locked onto him. Something was wrong.

**Hunter's Dream**

Hunter's POV

Our old hideout. Well, not really a hideout. It was the side of the library that no one really came to so we stood here. This was our spot. But what was I doing here? Was Max and the Flock just a daydream? I looked to my left and saw Cass next to me, sketching and to my right was Chris chatting her life away that phone of hers.

"Is something wrong, Brian?" a voice said. I looked at the source and recognized it. Shadow. She was leaning against the wall next to Ghost in her black ensemble. Like usual. And did she just call me Brian? I blinked. Well, I guess Max and the Flock was a daydream.

"Nope, it's nothing. Jus-" I froze when I noticed something. She was holding Ghost's hand. The blood drained from my face. Didn't they break up months ago?

"Are yo-" Shadow started but stopped when Lies rushed in with three boys on his tail. I stood up immediately and went in between Lies and the boys, glad to have the distraction.

"What's the problem fellas?" I asked coolly. Me, being taller than the average boy, towered over them.

"None of your business, _loser_," the head boy, who mysteriously sounded like Crackle said. The others laughed behind him.

"Well, that's very original," I said, brushing the comment off and rolling my eyes. "But whatever happens involving anyone in my group, involves me."

"Well then I'll have to pummel both of you," the guy said, his cronies behind him nodding their heads. Like I said before, how original. The three guys picking against one kid.

"Well then you'll have to pummel me too. Though I doubt that you will have that chance," Ghost said, coming next to me, still holding Shadow's hand . For some reason it was really irritating me.

"Aw, look. Loser love," the leader said. Automatically, his friends cracked up too. I felt myself getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"Listen," I growled, "Get the hell out of here."

"Oh, did I hit a soft spot? Do you like the goth chick? Or is it the boy?" he said. The guys were behind started laughing harder. Did he just call me gay? My anger surged through my veins. My body felt very numb. I broke the group's don't attack until you're attacked rule, growled angrily and I felt myself lunge at the head boy. We both fell heavily to the ground.

I wasn't controlling myself. I couldn't get off the boy. I couldn't move at all. I saw myself punch him once and I felt his nose crack under my fist. I felt myself punched him again and his jaw dislocated. His friends ran away screaming their heads off like they just saw a dead body. Ghost pulled me off the guy, stood me up and turned me to look at him. The boy scrambled away. My body growled after him. Ghost shook me...my body.

"Brian, my man, what's gotten into you?" Ghost said. Still against my will, my body pulled back a fist and punched him straight in the chest. I felt his chest bones break on impact and he went flying. He hit the ground with a thud, his eyes permanently widened in surprise. My body walked to him and kicked him. No response.

He was dead.

I felt my stomach want to revolt. Oh, God. I just killed one of my best guy friends. _For no apparent reason. _And I still couldn't control my actions. Oh God, what's happening to me?!

"OH MY GOD! WHAT DID YOU DO BRIAN?! HE WAS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!" Shadow screamed. She ran over and and kneeled next to the corpse, crying over him. I wanted to cry next to her, comfort her in some way, shape, or form, or plain old throw myself off a cliff with my wings tucked in right now. But I couldn't even twitch my finger, let alone comfort her.

Instead, I kneeled down next to her and put my arm around her. And not in a comforting way either.

"GET OFF ME BRIAN!" she screamed. I tried, oh how I tried, but my body didn't listen.

"I HATE YOU!!" she screamed . My body growled and bit her neck hard. In horror, I felt my teeth crush her windpipe.

She cried out and went limp in my arms.

Dead.

I wanted to cry out. I wanted a knife. I wanted to stop. I wanted her to come back. My right-hand women. Dead.

Because I killed her.

My body didn't respond to my requests. Instead, it licked her. It kissed her. Oh God. If lighting struck me at that second I wouldn't mind. _At all_.

Blood was everywhere. My body let go of Shadow's corpse and looked at it's reflection in the blood.

The whole eye was gold.

I was in Cold Fury.

End of Dream and Song.

I jackknifed to sitting position, gasping for air. Oh God, that dream was _horrible_. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked around. Max was sleeping restlessly. Fang was sleeping in sitting position on the floor.

One word to describe that. Ouch. I know Max wouldn't have minded if they shared the same bed. And Shadow...

I felt the spot where Shadow should've been. She wasn't there! I started to panic. What if she was kidnapped?! What if she was at the School? _What if the dream was real?_

I shot out of bed and pulled on my shirt. I untangled myself from the covers and pulled on my jeans. I grabbed my sneakers and shot out the door, cursing as I pulled on my socks. I managed to put on both my socks and a sneaker when I saw her outside, unfurling her wings. I sighed in relief and relaxed.

Shadow was fine. I calmly put on my other sneaker and popped a watermelon Trident gum in my mouth. Hey, it works when you don't have a toothbrush and toothpaste. I turned my attention back to Shadow. She was handing something to Jeb, her face impassive.

I stepped out to the backyard. "Hello Jeb," I said. He turned to me.

"Oh, good morning Hunter," Jeb said. "Did you just wake up?" I couldn't help but remember my dream and shudder.

"Yea, a few minutes ago," I said. I felt Shadow's gaze lock onto me and I swallowed. Damn, is she developing Angel's powers or what?

"Can I see your wings?" Jeb asked. I let my wings out. Jeb stared at them in wonder. I looked at them. They were 14 feet of gold across my back that allowed me to fly. A dream come true.

"Can I get a feather?" Jeb asked.

"Sure," I said. I shook my wings a bit and a few loose feathers came out. I grabbed from the ground and gave it to him.

"Thank you," he said. "I'll be inside in case you need me."

"Okay. You're welcome," I said. Shadow caught my attention and gestured towards the sky. I nodded. "Excuse me, Jeb," I said politely. He nodded and stepped aside. Immediately, I jumped in the air and flapped to keep airborne. Shadow did the same in front of me. I looked down and waved at Jeb, my possible father. He waved back, smiling. I looked at Shadow, who was staring at the sky, obviously trying not to intrude into the father-son moment.

"C'mon," I said and surged off. Shadow flew next to me, soundlessly, her wings beating simultaneously with mine. I looked at her. The early morning sunshine beat down on her, making her wings shine a stunning silver. Her face was serene-not happy-never _happy_...I mean she can be happy like when she was with Ghost.

I think you could tell that her little relationship with Ghost irritated me.

I looked away from her and decided to land in this clearing. I heard Shadow follow me and we both landed. I laid down on the grass and Shadow sat next to me.

After a few peaceful moments of silence Shadow said, "What's up?"

"The sun, the clouds, and those birds," I said.

She punched me playfully and said, "You know what I mean." I chuckled and looked at her. Her silver eyes were practically sparkling and there was a small smile on her lips. I stared at her for a few minutes and looked back at the sky.

"Well?" she said a few moments later, her voice soft.

"What does it feel like to be in Cold Fury?" I could tell she wasn't expecting that question.

"Well," she started, "It feels like you're outside yourself. You can't control yourself. It's an out of body experience." She looked at me. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing," I said. It was silent for a few minutes. I looked at her to see eyes of steel glaring at me.

"You're lying." Her voice was like steel too. I looked away from her. If she glared at me like that I knew she would get it out of me.

"Hunter, look at me," Nope. Not gonna happen honey.

"Don't make me do to you what you did to me," her voice was dangerous. What what was she talking about?...Oh, must've been the time I straddled her on the sofa. I half smirked and felt a little embarrassed every time I remembered it. I had just lost it when she was avoiding and ignoring me. But then a thought passed through me that made all the blood drain from my face.

What if that was because of Cold Fury?

But before I could dwell anymore on it she was on top of me pinning my arms to the ground. "Tell. Me. What's. Wrong." I was shocked. She actually did it?! Shadow's face was just inches from mine. I wonder if I ki-. Nope Hunter. Dismiss that thought before you think it. She'd kill you afterwards. It's not like she likes boys like me anyways, I thought to myself. She likes boys like Ghost. Sure there was that kiss when I was bleeding to death and that car but I kissed her and she probably kissed me back out of pity.

"Earth to Hunter," she said.

"Alright alright. I'll tell you. Just get off me. You're...intimidating," I said to her. Shadow looked at me suspiciously for a few seconds then got off.

"Spill. Now," she said. I sat up next to her.

"I had a dream," I said then stopped. Should I tell her everything? Nope.

"Yea, a _lot_ of people have those," Shadow said dryly. I glared at her. Smart ass.

"Well then tell me already. If it's bothering you, it's bothering me." She said this softly making me relax and remember when she used to sing. I met her eyes which were leaking with concern.

"We were back with the gang at New York. And these guys started picking on us. So I got angry and lost control. I punched him and Ghost tried to stop me," I cut off because it was starting to get painful. And note how I left the small detail of her and Ghost being together. Why? Because he broke up with her. It's like a 'don't talk about it anymore it never happened' issue. And anyways it was insignificant. Right?

"Go on," she said softly, rubbing my shoulders. Dang Shadow, why are you tempting me like this?! I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. Ugh. I'm such a hopeless romantic.

"I-killed him," I said it quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. She kept rubbing my shoulders and my wings. I tapped my foot. "You went to check on him. Everyone else disappeared. I tried to stop myself. I really did. But-" I cut off. Too painful. I still hear the screaming. I still feel the bones cracking under my fist.

The back of my neck started prickling. "Tell me," she breathed in my ear. "Tell me what happened next." I swallowed.

"I attacked you. And killed you." No response from her. Who was she and what had she done with the real Shadow? I decided to keep on talking. "I looked at my reflection in the blood. And I was in Cold Fury." There was still no response from her. There was silence and I practically heard her thinking.

"You would never do that. Even if you were in Cold Fury," she said. I blinked. She trusted me that much?

"But how do _you_ know?"

"Because I know everything, as I keep reminding you."

I didn't even smile. That's how bad I felt.

"I know you Hunter nothi-" I held up my hand. I knew what she was going to say. I didn't want to hear it.

"If that ever happens, will you do what needs to be done for the better of everyone," I looked at her. She was silent, her eyes on me. "Would you kill me?"

We stared at each other for a long time. Then she looked to the side then back at me. "Yes," she said.

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. "Thank you." She patted my shoulder.

"You'll be fine," she said. She leaned down and quickly kissed my cheek. "Now, c'mon. Fang says that breakfast is starting." She ran and took off into the sky. I smiled and followed her.

**Me: That chapter came out bad. Did anyone figure out what Hunter's secret obsession was? And sorry if Hunter sounded like a girl in some parts. That's because of the sole fact that I _am_ a girl. But anyways the little purplely-blue button wants you to hit it and give me reviews. It has a bad temper so do what it says.:)**


	15. Realizations and Tests

**Me: Ugh...sorry for the delay for this chapter...it was hard to write for some reason...**

**Hunter: Okay...**

**Me: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**Shadow: But she owns us.**

**Hunter: Yeah...**

**Chapter 15: Realizations and Tests**

Max's POV

"Are they coming or are they skipping breakfast?" I asked Fang. Everyone was at breakfast exception for two avian-hybrids.

"They're coming," Fang said, taking a bite from his toast.

"Where were they, anyways?" Total asked.

"Yes. Where _were_ they?" Iggy said grinning mischievously and wiggling his eyebrows. I threw some toast at him and Fang smirked then frowned. Ella chuckled and tried to hide it and Nudge's eyes widened. The Gasman and Angel were looking at us with wide-eyed innocence.

"Shadow said she's going to get you for that little comment," Fang said simply and took another bite out of his toast. The Gasman started laughing through all the food in his mouth.

"Gazzy!" I said. He calmed down and actually started chewing his food. I shook my head and brought my fork to my mouth, when all of a sudden I was flying.

No, I wasn't flying over the kitchen table. I was flying over land. My eyes widened and I almost forgot to flap.

But for some odd reason, I didn't need to. Hmm...

"Hey," I felt someone brush my feathers and I looked over to see Shadow. She was giving me a steady look, like the one Fang gives me when he wants the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I felt my head nod up and down.

"Yea, I'm feeling fine," I felt my mouth move and say. BUT THAT WASN'T MY VOICE! Unless I had been taking huge amounts of testosterone, which I HAVEN'T!

"If you're still thinking about your dream...just put it out of sight, out of mind. Just—well I don't know Hunter, you're the expert of not thinking so..." Shadow said. Okay, did she just call me Hunter?! Using my intelligent thinking and deductive skills, I came up with a question to sum everything up.

What the HELL was going on?!

"Ha ha Shadow. Hilarious. It's not that. It's just that I keep hearing Max's voice in my head for some odd reason," Hunter said.

_You hear me? _I said...err...thought to Hunter.

"It's like she's in my head, talking to me," Hunter said. Okay, he just ignored me...

"Like how?" Shadow asked, curiosity leaking through in her voice.

_Hello?! Stop ignoring me!_ I shouted in his head. I felt him wince.

"Like right now. She just shouted 'Stop ignoring me' in my head," he said. I just had to get someone _stupid_ for a brother.

_That's because I'm _in_ your head! _I shouted, annoyed.

"I'm going crazy," he finished. I sighed. Was I _this_ dense?

"Somethings wrong back at the house," Shadow said. I felt my stomach drop. Here I was, stuck in my brother's head and the others were in trouble.

Crap doesn't even sum up how bad this is.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked.

"Fang's panicking," Shadow said. Okay, so things are bad.

"Fang? Panicking?" Hunter asked. Shadow's eyes unfocused then refocused with a trace of fear in them.

"Max isn't responding to anything!"

Oh perfect. I'm dead. Just great.

"Are you serious?" Hunter exclaimed.

_I just want to get out of Hunter's head right now, _I thought desperately. Then, my vision started swimming and it reformed to see the worried faces of the Flock and my family.

"Max! Maximum! Can you hear me?" Jeb asked loudly.

"Jeez Jeb, I didn't go deaf," I said. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh gosh Max, what happened? You, like, dropped your fork and it clanged a loudly and Iggy asked 'what's wrong' and you didn't answer so Fang was like 'Max?' And you still didn't answer and Angel said 'she's not there', and everyone was like 'what?' And she said that you weren't in your head and then Iggy was all 'then where is she, Mars?' And Total said 'no need to be so sarcastic' and you still were, like, spacing out and--"

"How's Max? Is she okay?" Hunter ran in saying with Shadow right behind him and cutting Nudge off (thankfully).

"Yea, I'm fine," I said.

"Alright, everyone just—Max, what happened?" Jeb said. Fang gave me the 'tell the truth' look.

"I really don't know. I guess that..." I started but trailed off.

"She was in Hunter's head," Angel said abruptly.

Well, as you can imagine, that went over like a ton of bricks.

"What?!" Ella and Total said at the same time.

"Are you serious?!" Gazzy and Iggy said at the same time.

"Oh, that is so cool! Are you getting the same powers as Fang and Shadow? Can you like, look at his memories or--" Nudge started.

"Everyone, enough!" Hunter bellowed. Everyone in the room quieted. I blinked in amazement. I thought I was the only one who could get my Flock to shut up. Hunter looked at me. "So you really were in my head?"

"Yes. That was me telling you not to ignore me," I said.

"You two have the same powers as me and Fang," Shadow said, her quiet voice barely audible. Fang nodded.

"Amazing," Jeb breathed. Everyone was quiet until Mom cleared her throat.

"Alright everyone, finish your breakfast," she said. Talking ensued and 10 minutes later, everyone was finished with breakfast.

"Can Hunter, Max, Fang and Shadow follow me to the front yard," Mom said. We all followed her and saw two desk set up with various equipment outside. Jeb was already out there toying with a high powered microscope.

"Max, Fang, can I get a feather...and keep your wings spread," Jeb said. I exchanged a puzzled glance and we simultaneously spread our wings. Loose feathers fell out. I got one and handed one to Jeb. Fang did the same.

"Can you all line up here," Mom said. Hunter was over there first and I was behind him. Fang was behind me and Shadow was last.

Then Mom picked up a needle.

Now, I don't know about you, but if you spent the first 10 years of your life in a cage with deranged scientists testing you, then you would get a bit nervous around needles.

I broke into a cold sweat and I felt Fang freeze behind me. He _hated_ needles. More than the rest of us. So that's saying something.

"Um—what are you going to do with that?" Hunter asked dumbly. Well, Hunter what do you _think_ she's going to do with that? I looked at him and saw sweat on his forehead. I looked at Shadow and saw she had a deer in the headlights look. I'm guessing she wasn't so fond of needles either.

"Don't worry. I'm just taking a bit of blood," Mom said soothingly. I gulped and looked at the others. Still frozen. Then Hunter squeezed his eyes shut and slowly put out his arm. Mom strapped his hand down to the table and started preparing his arm. Shadow silently stood behind him and put her head on his shoulder.

_It's going to be okay,_ I sent him. He nodded. A few minutes later and she was done. Hunter stood up and backed up. I sat down in the chair. Mom strapped down my arm. I shut my eyes.

**Pink elephants and purple bunnies.** It took me a moment to realize that...

1. Hunter just spoke to me in my head.

2. He just said pink elephants and purple bunnies.

_What?!_

**Just wanted to distract you.**

_By randomly thinking about pink elephants and purple bunnies?_

**You got it.**

_You're random._

"All done," Mom said. I blinked. I didn't feel a thing. I got up and Fang sat down. I put my hand on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

"Iggy!" Jeb called. Iggy stepped out and Jeb called him again. They talked in hushed tones and passed things to each other.

"Finished," Mom said. Fang got up stiffly and went over to a bunch of trees, looking at the sky. Hmm...wonder what he was thinking about.

"Fang, can you keep _those_ thoughts to yourself," Shadow said as Mom strapped her arm down.

"What thoughts?" Me and Hunter asked at the same time. She smirked and flipped her hair back.

"Can't tell you. He'd kill me," she said. Then her face paled and she squeezed Hunter's hand. I looked and cringed at the needle coming out of her skin. I turned away and stared at the ground. A few moments later Mom was done. Shadow let out a shuddering breath.

"Now," Mom started. "Can Max and Shadow stand next to each other with their wings out?" Shadow and I exchanged a look and we stood next to each other with our wings spread. Mom was behind us. Her hand glided over my wings, then Shadow's.

"Wow," she breathed. Mom regained her composure then called Fang ad Hunter over to do the same next to us.

"Jeb, come here," she called. I saw Iggy give us a thumbs up and went inside the house. I heard Jeb's footsteps and he stopped next to her.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Look at their wing patterns. I've noticed that Hunter's and Max's patterns are more reinforced by other feathers and have a sharper feather," Mom said.

"Yes...I see..from what I remember from the Director's documents, Max was made to a super soldier. Her wings are more armored with feathers for when she hits super speeds so they don't go flying off," Jeb said. I raised my eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"And Shadow and Fang's feathers seem a bit more rounded..." Mom observed.

"Yes, Fang was made to be a bit more graceful in flight then Max. He was made to do amazing stunts in the air and be more versatile than Max in the air," Jeb said. I saw Fang blink but he didn't say a word.

"Okay then, kids you can put your wings back in and go inside," Mom said. Jeb walked to the desk and froze.

"Wait, what was you injected with?" Jeb said. All of us looked at him.

"We weren't injected with anything. Dr. Martinez took our blood, that's all," Hunter said.

"No, at the School," Jeb said.

"We were injected with a lot of things," Shadow said. I shot her a look.

"It says serum A17...so they must've poisoned you two with something first," Jeb said.

"Must've been some sort of inhibitor..." Mom said.

"Yeah—she's right!" Shadow said.

"Yea, because before we didn't have wings, nor the running speed that we have now, or the strength..." Hunter said. Jeb nodded in understanding.

"Valencia, can I get vinegar, baking soda, Clorox, and a lemon," Jeb said. Huh? Mom went in and came back with all the items.

"What are you doing?" Mom asked when she dumped all of the contents on the table. Jeb quickly measured all of the contents and dumped them all into one big cup and put it over a fire.

"You'll see," Jeb said. He looked at his watch, tapped his finger 3 times, and dumped a gold and silver feather into the mixture.

**What do you think he's doing?** That was Hunter.

_Some sort of weird ass science experiment. _I responded.

Jeb turned the fire off and waited a bit for it to cool off. He put his glove on and fished two feathers out of the mixture.

And there was a one black feather. And one tan feather. Hunter and I looked at each other then back at Jeb.

"Nice magic trick Jeb. Now please explain-_what the hell just happened?!"_ Shadow said as calmly as she could muster.

"Well, I reversed the effects of the serum. The serum made your feathers the color that they are now. If you was never given the serum or the inhibitor this would be your feather-" Jeb picked up the black feather. "-and this would be Hunter's." Jeb picked up the tan one. He put it next to Fang and my feathers. They looked exactly the same.

"This proves that you have the same bird DNA at least," Jeb said.

"Now," Mom said, "Who wants chocolate chip cookies?"

* * *

"I have the results," I looked at Jeb.

"That was quick," Hunter muttered. I nodded. It has only been a few days.

"Okay then," Shadow said rubbing her hands on her stocking.

"Valencia, Iggy and I have been working on this and--"

"Iggy?" Fang interrupted.

"Yes, Iggy. The feather textures. Anyways, we've been working hard on it and with all the evidence we've collected, I've concluded that-"

**Me: SHADOW!!!**

**Shadow: What?**

**Me: Where's the rest of the document?**

**Shadow: Um-Hunter pushed me and I fell and spilled my coffee on it.**

**Me: And where's the rest of it?**

**Shadow:Hunter hid it. And he just went to the store.**

**Me: Well, everyone will just have to wait until next time for the results...so until then review:)**


	16. Results

**Me: I'm back with the long awaited chapter 16. **

**Hunter: Yeah...finally.**

**Me: Anyways, this is the end of part 1 of this story and the beginning of part 2 which is the shortest.**

**Shadow: Wow, I didn't know this had parts. How many are there?**

**Me: 3 **

**Hunter: 3? Wait! That means your finished with a third of the story?!**

**Me: Yep.**

**Shadow: Wow...didn't see that coming...anyways, Kim doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Hunter: But she owns me, Shadow, Chris, Cass, Ghost and Lies. And Snap, Crackle and Pop. And-**

**Shadow: (smacks hand over Hunter's mouth)Don't say it! Don't say her name! YOU'LL DOOM US ALL!**

**Me: Um...okay, someones had too much sugar.**

**Chapter 16: Results**

Shadow's POV

"I've concluded that--" Jeb cut off and took a deep breath. Damn, this guy talks when I don't want him to but when I want him to, he's mister silence.

"Fang and Shadow," Jeb said looking at us. I saw Fang tense up and I felt my muscles do the same. This is the moment we've been waiting for.

"You two are--" My breath was stuck in my throat. "twins."

Air and tension whooshed out of me. I couldn't help but smile. A really good one. I haven't done one of those in...I can't even remember. Fang. My brother. I looked at him. He had a small smile on his face. I could feel him. He was...happy. Yes, he was happy.

"Hunter and Max," Jeb said. I felt the tension come back with a vengeance. It was as thick as pea soup.

"You two are--" Oh, please let them be- "twins." I smiled again and looked at Hunter who was shocked in his seat. I flicked his head. He looked at me and his lips slowly went into a smile. He shot out his seat and hugged Max. She had been shocked too but she hugged him back.

"I have a...twin," Max muttered.

"Duh," Fang said, rolling his eyes. Max punched him playfully and they both were smiling.

"So...you're my Dad," Hunter said. Jeb nodded and Hunter hugged him. Jeb grunted.

"Be careful bird boy or you'll kill your father," I said. Hunter let go and apologized.

"It's okay...son," Jeb said. Damn, this freaking deserved a hallmark card. Or, at least a video camera.

Hunter smiled and they both hugged. Then Hunter rushed into the kitchen to talk to his mother. And I felt good. Better than I have in a long time.

* * *

I breathed out. A week. A freaking week since I sent that e-mail and still, no word from Chris. Were they mad? Did something happen? I was outside just taking a walk with Fang's laptop. I had to or else everyone would feed of my negative vibes. I hate crowded places. I had to sleep in the same bed with Fang since he was uncomfortable with sleeping in the same bed with Max and we were related so it didn't matter. Lucky for me, he wasn't a kicker.

The younger ones, Iggy, Ella, Jeb and Dr. Martinez went to a carnival. Fang and Hunter decided to watch The Covenant while Max attempted chocolate chip cookies. I was trying not to check my e-mail. But finally, I couldn't help it.

I sat down on the grass and turned on the laptop. I went onto my e-mail and saw...

One new message.

I sighed in relief. They were okay.

I clicked into it. There was no message. Just a video. My eyebrow shot up and I clicked into it. Then the ugly face of Crackle bombarded the screen. I shrieked in anger. What the hell was he doing there?! Did he hack into Chris's e-mail address? Or...

My blood ran cold.

Or what if they were in trouble?

"Hey _birdie_. Haven't seen you in a while. Did you finally kick the bucket? But of course you haven't. Now lets see...as a _result_ of your disobedience--"

"And for beating us up!" Pop cried out. Snap glared at him. I would've chuckled if I wasn't so pissed.

"Shut up! Like I was saying, as a result...well let me show you..." Crackle backed away from the screen. My eyes widened in horror and I saw

Chris.

Cass.

Ghost.

Lies.

All of them, beat up, hurt.

Half dead was more like it.

Because of us.

Because of _us_.

My eyes started_ watering._ Yes, I have tear ducts. And right now they were activating. Big woop.

"Now if you ever want to see them alive again, then come back to New York in a week, only you and Hunter--" Crackle reappeared on the screen. "For old times sake. And if you don't--" He went next to Cass and pulled her up by her hair and pulled Ghost by his hair with his other hand. "They. Will. Die."

"No...don't...co--" Ghost started but the video stopped. I felt the tears roll down my face.

"Ghost," I whispered. "No...Cass...Lies...Chris...I'm sorry..." I put the laptop to the ground and started crying. Then sobbing. Hard soul raking sobs. I couldn't the image of them hurt out of my head. I curled up and wrapped my wings around me. Soon, my sobs gave way to shuddering breaths. I looked around to see...no one. Lucky me I was far from the house. I wiped my face and slowly walked back to the house.

Hunter's POV

"Max, this is the tenth batch that you've burned. Just give it up," I said. Max put on _my_ famous stubborn face.

"I'm going to get this right." she said. "Without a timer. I don't need one."

"Yep, because you just _love_ burnt cookies," I said. Then, Fang came into the kitchen.

"Somethings wrong with Shadow," he said. I felt myself tense up.

"What?" I said.

"She's...clouded. I get...depression...sadness...guilt...lots of anger," he said. Then I heard the back door open and slam shut. Shadow drifted in. I looked at her and my eyes widened. Her face was pale and there were tear trails down her face.

"What the hell happened?" I growled. If I get my hands on the person who did this to her...

"They have them," she said, biting her lip. I blinked.

"What?" Fang asked.

"Who has who?" Max asked.

"The Erasers," she squeezed her eyes shut and hit her forehead hard. She took a deep breath and let it out. I went next to her and and bent down to match her eye level.

"Calm down and tell me...the Erasers have who?" I said patting her shoulder. Shadow looked at me and her expression was scary. It was one of deep pain, sadness, regret, and guilt.

"They have...the others. They have Ghost, Chris, Cass and Lies," she said, her voice choked out.

I felt like a ton of bricks just fell on me.

Max's POV

"Wh-what?!" Hunter asked shocked.

"The Erasers are holding Ghost, Chris, Cass, and Lies hostage. If we don't get there in a week they'll--" she looked away and muttered something.

"Huh?" Fang asked.

"DIE! THEY'LL FREAKING DIE!" Shadow screamed and broke down. Hunter pulled her close and he had this lost expression on his face. I couldn't believe it myself although I wouldn't put it pass the School to do something as low as that.

"Oh God, I'm such a cream puff," Shadow muttered. Hunter squeezed her closer.

"Where did you find this out?" Fang asked calmly. I'm still wondering how he could keep calm in these situations. I was wondering why_ I_ was so calm. Shadow got Fang's laptop and accessed her e-mail address. She played the video and walked out the room.

And I watched it, feeling more shocked with each second of the video. How could they DO that?!

Shadow came down with 2 backpacks.

"Wait. Where do you think you're going?" Fang asked.

"To save them," she said. Hunter grabbed his pack from her.

"But it's a trap," Fang said.

"Well no freaking duh," Shadow said. Well, I'm guessing she's feeling a bit better. "But I can't just leave them there to die."

"Let's think about this first," I pleaded.

"There's nothing to think about. We're going and that's it," Hunter said. Wow, just as stubborn as me. They headed for the door but Fang blocked it, his lips pressed together.

"Move Fang," Shadow said.

"No!" He shouted. I felt my eyes widen. "If we're going to do this, we're doing this together. If I lose you, then I'll never forgive myself." He glared at Shadow. "We're family, we'll do this together."

"Then get the Flocks packs ready," Hunter said. "We have no time to waste."

**Me: Okay, I got really depressed in the middle of this chapter so sorry if the ending was bad. Review please, it'll make me feel better. I can't even do my signature smiley face...sorry:(**


	17. Drama Without a Stage

**Me: Hey everyone!**

**Hunter: Hi.**

**Shadow:...Anyways, lets get the disclaimer done. Author doesn't Maximum Ride. But she owns us.**

**Hunter: So if you use us, give the author credit.**

**Me: And to the reviewer named anonymous who reviewed for chapter 16, I've got 8 words for you. _If you don't like it, don't read it._**

**Shadow: Um...yeah...story starts now.**

**Chapter 17: Drama Without a Stage**

Shadow's POV

"We're here?" Max asked. I nodded. We were in the Big Apple. Not because I wanted to. It was too painful to come here. So many memories, good and bad. I just didn't want to come back. But we had to.

"Remember the plan?" Hunter asked. Over the last few days, he's been more quiet than usual. I haven't talked much either. I could count on my fingers how many words I've said all week.

"Yea, me and Fang stay right out here on the benches. If we hear Shadow or you scream the words Freaks Forever, then we run upstairs and save your asses," Max said. I nodded.

"Good. C'mon Shadow," Hunter said. We both headed to the brown brick building. We entered the lobby and pressed the button for the elevator. It opened and Hunter and I stepped on. The door closed and I tensed. I hated tight enclosed spaces. What felt like a lifetime later, the door opened. I jumped out the elevator and Hunter did the same next to me.

I looked at him and he nodded. We walked down the hallway and stopped in front of Hunter's old apartment. My old apartment was right next door. If the Erasers weren't in here then they were in my apartment.

Anyways, Hunter went under the rug and pulled out the key. He straightened and put the key into the lock. I swallowed my nervousness down. He turned it and...

Max's POV

Fang and I sat down on one of the benches. The rest of the Flock was at the hotel we were staying at for the time being. It was safer for them and better for us.

"Fang, do you think they'll be alright?" I asked. Fang looked at me, his dark eyes solemn.

"Well, they're our twins. What do you think?" he said. Well, if you put it that way...

I tried to relax on the wooden bench. Things would be alright, right?

How wrong I was.

In the next minute someone put a cloth to my face. I tried to struggle but whatever that was on the cloth was making me tired. The last thing I heard was Omega saying, "Chloroform can be such a bitch, huh?"

Damn straight, buddy.

Shadow's POV

...opened it. All the lights were off. Good. I crept in quietly.

"Wolf boy. We're here. Come out, come out, where ever you are," Hunter called. I looked in the living room where there was stains. Food, drink and what I believed to be blood was on the carpet. I wrinkled my nose. Disgusting.

"Hey lookie," Hunter said. I looked back and saw that he was in the kitchen. "They brought beer."

"Don't get drunk _now_! We're on a rescue mission!" I hissed. I turned back, and started walking down the hall. There was two bedrooms in Hunter's apartment. One for him, one for his parents. I cautiously walked down the hallway. Then, before I could do anything, I was tackled into the wall.

There was a gigantic sound. The air burst out of me and everything was spinning. I vaguely heard someone calling me and heard a commotion. Then someone was on me and...

"Hey _birdie_," a voice said, but everything was still spinning. I struggled and finally I regained my senses. Crackle was on top of me while Hunter was fighting against Snap and Pop.

"Get off me," I hissed, acting perfectly calm, even though me head was reeling.

"Aw c'mon..._let's have some fun,"_ Crackle said. Well, that made my stomach want to revolt. Then Hunter _roared._ Yes, he _roared_. He tackled Crackle and they both rolled off me. I jumped up and looked in their direction where—excuse my language but—Hunter was beating the _shit_ out of Crackle. I've never seen him so angry.

Never.

Well, maybe—nope, never. Not even when I wrote on his face with a black Sharpie marker.(Hey! It was a dare!)

I turned my attention to Pop who was getting up.

"I'll make this quick," I said. I snapped a kick in Pop's direction. It hit his face and he fell to the ground. Then Snap shot up and ran in my direction. I easily side stepped him and tripped him. He hit the floor like a ton of bricks. I could hear the old man, who lived downstairs bang on his ceiling.

"KEEP IT DOWN YOU CRAZY ASS KIDS! DAMMIT! CAN'T I GET SOME PEACE AND QUIET?!" the guy yelled. I rolled my eyes and stomped on the ground hard.

"SHUT UP YOU OLD FART!" I screamed back. "WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN HERE FOR TEN FREAKING MINUTES AND ALREADY YOU'RE BITCHING! CAN'T _I_ GET SOME PEACE AND QUIET!?" What? That guy is _so_ annoying. That's why Hunter stays at my house most of the time. Well, that and so he doesn't want to risk making a mess at his house.

I looked at Hunter. He was standing over Crackle, his back to me. I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hunter?" I said. Hunter turned to me and I shrieked and jumped back.

Because he was in Cold Fury.

Outside POV

"So what do you think the others are doing?" the Gasman asked. The rest of the Flock was sitting in a hotel room, waiting for Max, Fang, Hunter, and Shadow to come back.

"They're doing something funner then what we're doing here," Iggy grumbled, messing with some wires in the television remote.

"Is funner a word? I mean cause it sounds so weird like fun-ner. You hear that? _Fun_-**ner**. See it just sound like so--"

"Nudge," Iggy said. She stopped talking and apologized.

"They did it to protect us," Angel said. She was throwing Celeste up and down in the air and Total tried to match how high the stuffed bear was thrown.

"From what? They didn't tell us," the Gasman said. Iggy and Angel stiffened.

"Trust me little buddy, you don't want to know," Iggy said, furrowing his eyebrow.

"No. I do. I'm not a little eight year old anymore," the Gasman persisted. Iggy ruffled the boy's hair. He loved that kid.

"No you're a little nine year old." The Gasman put his stubborn face but it had no effect on the fourteen year old blind boy.

"Fine. Nudge, do you know?" the Gasman asked, knowing he could get anything out of the girl.

"Nope. Nada. Nein. Negative. Nothing. Zip. Not a thing. No--"

"NUDGE!" Iggy shouted. Nudge bit her lip.

"Sorry. So sorry. I just can't control myself sometimes. I mean--" Iggy growled and the girl quieted. The Gasman observed the two and a evil plan formulated in his little blond head. He smiled, a really evil one and picked up the phone for customer service.

"What are you doing Gazzy?" Iggy asked.

"Hey Nudge, want a Red Bull?" The Gasman asked, ignoring the older boys question.

"Sure! I never had a Red Bull! What does it taste like? What if I don't like it? But then, whatever. Does it really give you wings? Cause like the only people with wings I know is us in the Flock and Annabell. But then, people could have hidden wings like Shadow and Hunter did. I wonder if it hurt having their wings out again? They never really told us. And I wonder about their past. I mean didn't they come from New York? So maybe that's why we're here. I love New York! It has so many stores and it has the movies. I want to go to the movies. Shadow told me that she saw a movie called _I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. _She said it was funny. I want to go see it because--"

"ENOUGH!!!!" Iggy screamed. The room quieted and the oldest Flock member present was breathing heavily. Nudge was about to apologize again but Iggy put his hand up. "Don't." Iggy turned his head in the Gasman's general direction. The nine year old had a triumphant smile on his face.

"Alright. You win. Where's Fang's computer?" Iggy said.

Max's POV

I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry. I blinked a few times and cleared up my vision. I was in a warehouse. Great. I closed my eyes and banged my head against the table that I was strapped to.

"Fine time you woke up Maximum," I heard Omega say. My eyes snapped open and I strained myself to look in his direction.

And I saw Fang, facing a mirror and fixing his hair.

"Fang?!" I asked, shocked. What the _hell_ was he _doing_? Fang turned to look at me.

And it would've been Fang if he had silvery-blue eyes.

"Not quite, Maximum," Omega said. I felt my stomach drop. "Or should I say, _not really Max,_" My breath caught in my throat. He had mimicked Fang's voice exactly.

"Wh—what? WHAT THE FUCK?!" I heard Fang shout. I blinked, shocked that he cursed so loudly and I turned to him. He was next to me, strapped down to another table, stripped down to his boxers.

"Now, now, Fangy-poo, that's no way to talk," An obnoxious voice said. Annabell stepped in the room wearing _my_ clothes. I looked at myself and saw that _I was only in my bra and underwear._

On a suckiness scale, this situation would be a easy twenty-five.

"Or should I say," Annabell continued. "Fang, watch your language!" I gritted my teeth. She sounded just like me. Omega and Annabell laughed and smacked high fives.

"What the hell are you going to do?" I snarled. Omega sat next to me and put a hand on my bare stomach. I couldn't help but shudder. Omega snickered and Fang growled.

"Well Max," Omega said in Fang's voice. "I'm going to go back to the waiting spot and murder Hunty boy and have a little fun with Shadow before I turn her into the School."

"Nu—uh" Annabell said in my voice. "You are **not** killing Hunter. He's mine. You can kill the bitch though."

"Ugh...fine," Omega said. "We'll keep them both."

"Yes...that's perfect," Annabell said smiling. "Now let's fix our selves up _Fang_. We don't want to keep our soon to be permanent guests waiting."

Outside POV

"I can't believe it!" the Gasman said after hacking into Shadow's e-mail account and watching the video.

"Yea! They kept _this_ from _us_. This is serious!" Nudge shrieked outraged.

"I can sorta see why now," Iggy muttered, but only Angel and Total heard.

"We have to go there!" the Gasman declared.

"Hold up there, little man," Iggy said. "Only Hunter and Shadow know the way there."

"True...but we should still try!" the Gasman declared, full out determined. Iggy sighed and put his head in his hands. There was a slight rapping on the door and everyone went silent. Slowly, Iggy got up, went to the door and opened it.

"Yes? Who's this?" Iggy said. Nudge went up to him and gasped, covering her mouth.

"Hi, sorry to disturb you," a boy said, stepping up. He had black hair and dark blue eyes. "But we're looking for a Brian Gray and a Sky Hartzler. Have you seen or heard of them?"

"Who are you?" Nudge asked, regaining her composure.

"I'm Vincent. But you can call me Ghost," the boy said.

**Me: Oh goodness! Drama, drama, drama! In every horizon. Whew! Talk about exhausting... Anyways, while my fingers are resting, review:)**


	18. From Cold Fury to Payments

**Me: Stupid...school...**

**Shadow: She doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Hunter: But she owns us.**

**Me: I'm going to thank my reviewers that I think I didn't answer (or answered) their review. I thank Maximum Ride all the way, evilcarrotofdoom, Argetlamgirl, restart, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, WFF, maxridefan95, lilswikey101, FantasyFan5, Jesus-Freak2142, Nathaniel773, and meepisms. Thanks people!!! Anyways, chapter starts now.**

**Chapter 18: From Cold Fury to decency**

"What are you going to do with us?" I yelled at Omega. He looked at me from his place at the mirror with one black eye and one silvery blue eye. It was really creepy, how he was turning into Fang, right in front of my eyes.

"Hm. Let me think..." he came over and looked me over. I felt like hurling. I was like a piece of fruit, ripe for the picking. I saw Fang, with the corner of my eye, struggling harder.

"No one said I couldn't have two playthings," he said, a smile playing over his lips. I gritted my teeth. He was **so** going to get it when I get out of these bonds...

"Can I say sexist pi—mmph!" I was cut of when Omega placed his lips over mine. Rage flowed through me. How dare he?! I felt so violated when Omega his hand on my hip. Ugh...when I get out of here, I so needed a hot shower. Something to wash _him_ off me. He drew back from me with a big grin that I wanted to punch off his face.

"Yes," he hissed. "Two toys." Fang roared. I looked over, startled, and realized...

Fang was in Cold Fury.

* * *

"So." Iggy said, crossing his arms. "You're looking for those missing kids, Sky and Brian. What happened to them?" In front of Iggy stood four kids. A black haired, dark blue-eyed male teen known as Ghost answered Iggy.

"Well, can we sit down somewhere? I know standing is good for the legs but..." Iggy thought about it. This could very well be a trap.

No, Angel said in Iggy's head. They're the real deal. That made Iggy relieved and worried. _If they are here,_ he thought. _What's happening with Max, Fang, Hunter, and Shadow?_

"Come in," Iggy said, stepping away from the door. Ghost, followed by the other three kids, stepped in cautiously into the room. A girl with golden brown hair which was streaked with red, thrust her hand in Iggy's direction.

"Hi." she said. "I'm Crystal, but you can call me Chris."

"Uh...I'm James," Iggy lied. "I'm blind so..." Chris grabbed his hand and shook it.

"I'm Henry," said the boy with brown and neon green hair and dark green eyes said. "But my street name is Lies. I'd prefer if you'd call me that."

"Um..." the girl trailed off and rubbed her sweaty hands on her jeans, running her hand through her light blond and pink hair. She looked back up her gray eyes avoiding everyone else's. "I'm Cassandra...but just call me Cass."

"Hi! I'm Tiffany-Krystal, and this is Zephyr and Ariel," Nudge said gesturing to the Gasman then Angel. "Who is Brian and Sky? Are they your friends? Can you show us a picture?" Nudge wanted to ask more questions, but decided to cut it short, for fear of giving anything away and for Iggy's sanity. Ghost pulled out a picture and handed it to her. The Gasman and Angel crowded around it.

"What's going on?" Iggy asked, irritated that they weren't telling him anything.

"Okay, so let's see...the background is this park and Cass is sitting on a bench with a notepad, half smiling. Chris has her arm around Cass smiling. Ghost has Lies in a choke hold and Lies is playing around and has his eyes rolled back like he's not breathing. And then there's Sha—I mean--" Nudge went quiet before she gave it away. "Um...who's that?" Ghost went up to the picture and pointed to Shadow and Hunter.

"Well, this girl with the black hair and black eyes is Sky Hartzler. She's one of the people missing. She's also my ex-girlfriend. We're just friends now," Ghost said. Nudge's eyes widened in surprise. She wanted to ask him about that little fact but decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Continue," Iggy continued, surprised that Ghost was still living if he was Shadow's ex. If she didn't kill him, he was surprised Hunter didn't.

"And this one," Ghost pointed to the boy with dirty blond hair and hazel eyes "Is my best friend, Brian Gray. He's also missing." Nudge stared at "Brian" and "Sky". Brian was smiling and had an arm around Sky. Sky had an impassive look on her face but her eyes were sparkling. Ghost continued speaking.

"At first, we thought it was because Sky's parents changed their minds and decided to let her go to spring camp. They always go to that camp, every spring." _Hmm_, Iggy thought. "But this year she wasn't allowed to go because got into a fight with this girl, Annabell. When they both went missing, we just assumed that she was allowed to go to the camp." Ghost looked down, obviously feeling ashamed. Chris took over.

"Then, we waited. The day they were supposed to come passed. A few days later we became a bit worried. We went to their apartments but their was no answer. We e-mailed them various times. There was no response. This all happened seven months ago." Lies took over.

"Yeah. We all were pretty fucking worried. It wasn't like them to just up and leave. At first we thought they had run away since they hated their folks anyways. But then, they would've contacted us in some way, shape or form. So we put up missing signs all over the place. A week or so later we started to notice that some motherfuckers started to rip them off." Cass came in.

"So Chris talked to someone and they said that three guys have been ripping them down. That's when we all concluded that they had been kidnapped..." She trailed off, obviously hating public speaking. Ghost took over, his eyes narrowed.

"Then, a few weeks later, Annabell came in. Did I mention that she had gone missing too? Anyways, she came, looking mad fucked up. She came with this guy, not as bad but still beat up an--"

"How did this guy look?" Nudge asked, suspecting who it was.

"He was tall, with silvery-blue eyes and pale brown hair. Sort of good looking even though he was wearing some weird ass suit," Chris said. Iggy gritted his teeth. Omega _had_ been here.

"Well, anyways," Ghost continued. "She asked us if we heard from them at all and we answered no. She said that if we were lying to her she would know and we answered that we seriously didn't know. She left and that's when we started getting really suspicious."

"Then like two weeks ago, an e-mail came to me from Sky. It said that she and Brian were fine. For some reason after that, our e-mail accounts were hacked and we couldn't send anything. But today someone called me and..." Chris looked at Ghost to continue. He looked at Iggy, his eyes half glaring, half pleading.

"Chris got a call this morning. The hotel clerk is Chris's boyfriend. He said that he said that two people that fit Brian and Sky's description checked into this hotel, into this room." Ghost went up to Iggy not matching to his height but still got his point across. He was serious. "Do you know were Sky and Brian are?"

* * *

"Oh well that's funny," Omega said. In the next minute, he was at Fang's side with a thick needle in his hand. Cold Fury Fang growled and struggled to no avail. I turned away as Omega put that needle through Fang's skin.

I've never heard Fang scream like he did.

I never want to again.

"Damn! Shut him up! You'll attract attention!" Annabell yelled. Fang's screaming immediately ceased and I looked over to see what happened. There was a syringe with clear liquid was protruding from Fang's skin. Omega shrugged.

"Just some tranquilizer. It'll keep him down for a bit," he said. My mind was rushing. What was happening with the others? Has Shadow and Hunter noticed that we were gone yet? What about the rest of the Flock? What Annabell said popped into my head: _You'll attract attention..._

I started screaming on the top of my lungs. Omega rushed over and put his hand over my mouth. I bit him hard, drawing blood, until he had let go. I started screaming again. This time I felt a small prick on my arm and my eyes getting heavier.

"The next time you'll see us, we'll have company..." Omega whispered in my ear.

That was the last thing I heard before all became darkness.

* * *

"Hu—Hunter," I stumbled through my sentence, my thoughts jumbled and confused. What should I do? What should I do? Hunter looked at me, with his strange golden eyes and took a step closer. I shrank back. Then, I remembered my brother and Max.

"FREAKS FOREVER!!!FREAKS FOR--" I was cut off when Hunter lunged at me. I spun away and almost got caught. He had a hungry, longing look in his eye that made me nervous. I swallowed, and looked around. Nothing. It was just a matter of time till Fang and Max came up. Again he lunged and I tried to jump back but he was too fast.

I ended up on the ground with him on top of me.

Cold Fury Hunter growled and stared at me.

I couldn't feeling a bit frightened. I would be stupid if I wasn't.

I gulped and looked around desperately. What was I going to do?

* * *

"What if I told you that I may know where they are," Iggy said. Ghost's eyes widened and he looked at Iggy with hopeful eyes.

"Really? They were here? What--?" Chris started but Lies held up his hand to silence her. She quieted down and Lies stared at Iggy.

"What's with the _may_, man? You either do or you don't," Lies said.

"I don't know if you are really Ghost, Cass, Lies and Chris. Especially since Hunter and Sha—I mean, two people that I think are your friends went out to save _you_ guys," Iggy said. The four humans stared at Iggy in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked. Iggy sighed and sat down in a chair.

"I mean that about a week ago, a friend of mine received an e-mail saying that three dangerous guys had her best friends hostage. We all came with her here. We were to stay here while her, her best friend and our two Leaders went with her. The funny thing is, you're here," Iggy said. He waited while the news sunk into their heads.

"Where did they go? We have to go and sa--" Ghost said but was cut off by the blind boy.

"No. We have to stay here. They'll expect us to be here. So let's wait."

"So you mean we're sitting ducks?" Lies asked.

"Exactly," Iggy said.

* * *

I woke up to darkness. At first, I thought I was dead, but then I closed my eyes to see darker darkness and figured out that I wasn't. I sighed and looked at the ceiling. The piece and quiet meant Omega and Annabell left. And that equals bad news.

"Hello?" I called.

"Max?" a male voice said. My eyes widened when I recognized it. _Fang..._

"Fang, is that you?" I asked.

"Yep." I was relieved that he was at least still alive and kicking. And then surprised when he said...

"I'm sorry Max." Wha--"

"For what?" I asked curious.

"I should have been able to protect you from--" I cut him off.

"You shouldn't have to do anything. It's my duty as leader to keep us safe. I'm sorry, Fang," I said. I heard him sigh and bang his head on the table.

"Well," he said after a few minutes of silence, "At least they had the decency to leave us with our undergarments."

"...Amen to that."

* * *

Omega and I sat down on the bench. I hated this neighborhood. In fact the only things I liked about it was that Brian...oops Hunter lived here.

"So what do we do now?" I asked Omega. That boy was weird. He alternates from kid, to adult, to teen in like seconds. It's like the Director on PMS.

"We wait Annabell," he said. Right now, he was the emo serious dude. "We wait for our payment."

**Me: Okay we've got lots of things going on here. Comments, questions, or concerns? Then please press the blue button down there in the corner:)**


	19. We Found You   Or not

**Me: Hello people! This is author here.**

**Shadow:Featuring Shadow and her buddy...**

**Hunter: Hunter! Whos' sister has posted a new blog entry with Total's picture! Okay so author here doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Shadow: Oh and the author thanks Nathaniel773, Argetlamgirl, lilswicky101, Evil Angel of DOOM, victorianvamp105, Maximum Ride all the way, FantesyFan5, maxridefan95, Irish Graffiti, Cayla, aviator(Author says: I'd love to read your story when it comes out. I'll be on the lookout) WANNABE-AUTHOR92, PeachyKeenRainbowJellyBean, deathawaits, Jesus-Freak2142, Gaz Lloyd, and S.L. Michaels. Whew that's the most people that has ever reviewed for a chapter...**

**Me: Okay, so I own Hunter, twin brother of Max, who comes from NYC, who has a group of buddies (whom I own too)and who is an avian-hybrid. I also own Shadow, twin sister of Fang, proud wearer of black, who comes from NYC, who is an avian-hybrid and who is totally in love with--**

**Shadow: I'LL KILL YOU!!!**

**Hunter: Who is it? I'm clueless.**

**Ghost: (sighs) You really are.**

**Chapter 19: We found you! Or...not.**

"Hunter..." I said, my voice shaky. Cold Fury Hunter nuzzled forcefully into my neck. I bit my lip. This...was...WEIRD!

"Okay...Hunter, this isn't you. I know you can hear me. FIGHT IT!" Cold Fury Hunter squeezed me tighter and cut off my air supply. Couldn't...breath...

Can't...die...now...

* * *

"So how are we going to get out of this one?" I asked Fang. This was really was getting cold uncomfortable etc.

"These straps are made of Velcro...really strong Velcro," Fang said. I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks for the observation, Sherlock, but can you tell me something that's not BLARINGLY OBVIOUS?!" I snapped. Okay, you try being strapped to a cold table, next to your half naked best friend, in nothing but your bra and panties, freezing your ass off, worrying that some psychos are going to kidnap and do Lord knows what to your brother and friend, _and_ have PMS. **(A/N: First the Director, now Max...Uh oh)**

Yeah, not so great, is it?

I waited a few moments for Fang to retort but there was nothing.

"Fang?" I asked. Nothing.

"Fang!" I said again. I swear I'm going to strangle him one day.

"FANG?" I asked, louder. Still nothing. Something inside me snapped.

"FANG GODDAMIT! ANSWER ME!" I yelled. Fang huffed but didn't say a word. That did it. I felt everything go numb and I felt myself growl. What the hell?

In the next moment I felt myself rip out of the straps and sit up. The thing was...I wasn't doing anything!

I tried to move my arm. Nothing. Instead, "I" climbed off the table and went over to Fang. He looked at me and his eyes widened in amazement.

"How the he-" he started. But then "I" wrapped my hands around his neck and to my horror, started strangling him.

My reflection in his eyes showed that my whole eye was a sky blue color.

I was in Cold Fury.

* * *

"So," Ghost said. Iggy turned his head in the boy's general direction. "You said you think that your friends are our friends. Can you describe them to us? Like what are the names they go by?" Iggy remained calm but really he wanted these kids out. It was nerve wracking.

"If I told you what their names were, it would give us away." Iggy said, remembering that Fang put up an entry on his blog about Shadow and Hunter. "We're on the run and that would be sort of...bad."

"But you can describe them...right?" Chris asked. Iggy shot her a lop-sided grin.

"I would but I can't," Iggy said. He could feel them all tense up. "I'm blind, remember?" They all relaxed a bit.

"Well, can _you_ guys describe them?" Chris asked. "How about you Tiffany-Krystal?" Iggy immediately tensed up.

"I don't think that's such a go-" But the poor boy was cut off.

"Well, there's two of them. One is a boy. Really tall. But not as tall as Iggy. And he has dirty blond hair and pale skin. He also has nice golden eyes. I wish I had gold eyes and--"

"Gold eyes?" Lies asked.

"Yeah! They're like-"

"Contacts," Iggy said, cutting off Nudge before she said anything that would give them away. "He said he would be as blind as me without them." He could feel Lies eyes' boring into him. _Uh-oh._

"Where have I heard that description before?" Chris asked aloud. _Crap_, Iggy thought. _Fang put up descriptions? I was hoping they weren't blog fanatics... _

"Anyways," Nudge thankfully continued. "The girl is tall almost as tall as Max and she has straight black hair and olive toned skin which was pale at first but now it's not. And she has silver eyes," Nudge said.

"Silver eyes?" Lies asked.

"Max? Who's he?" Chris asked.

"You know," Ghost said, quieting the humans. "Those descriptions sound a lot like Sky and Brian's. Except for the eyes part." Ghost looked at Nudge. "What are their eyes color under the contacts?"

Nudge blinked as she thought of a lie. "I never saw them without the contacts off. My bedtime is before theirs."

"Do you think you know where they went?" Cass asked, softly. Iggy swallowed.

"Yeah!" the Gasman said seizing his opportunity to help. "They went to their house to find you guys!"

Ghost stood up from the ground were he had been sitting. "Well everyone, lets go to Sky and Brian's house."

* * *

"Hun...ter...I...I...I NEED YOU!" I screamed out, using my last bit of air. Cold Fury Hunter howled and rolled off me. I stood in my spot, gasping for air, staring at the ceiling. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the darkness. Ah darkness.

"Oh, oh NO!" Hunter screamed. I shot up into sitting position, opening my eyes and looking around. I saw Hunter, staring at me horror stricken from his spot on the floor.

"What?" I asked. He stared at me in shock. I crawled to him and touched his face. It was hot to the touch but I still stroked it. He looked so out of it.

"You-you're not dead," he asked, his voice shaky. I blinked in realization. He thought I was dead.

He thought he killed me.

"N-no...I'm right here. I'll never leave you. Never," I said running my hand through his hair. I can't believe he would think that. How bad was that dream? He hugged me gently, as if afraid I would break if he hugged me too hard. I hugged him back hard so he could get the point.

"Oh God, thank you," he breathed. I rocked him back and forth, oblivious to the limp bodies of Snap, Crackle, and Pop that were surrounding us. To me, it was just me and him.

"I'm okay. You're okay. We're okay and that's all that matters," I said. We broke away and I stared at him. His dirty blond hair covered his eyes. I brushed it away to reveal a pair of stunning gold eyes. I felt myself smile.

"I told you that you wouldn't kill me," I said. "Thus proving that I know everything." He chuckled and started laughing. It was contagious. I forgot about the Eraser's that were a few feet away, my friends in the other room, Max and Fang downstairs, the Flock, and being a freak.

When the laughter subsided, I became aware that Hunter's nose was touching mine and how close our lips were.

Closer...

**Closer**...

* * *

"MAX STOP!!!" Fang cried out. I couldn't stop it. Couldn't...stop...

_**MAX, ENOUGH PITYING YOURSELF AND TAKE ACTION! FANG WILL DIE OR GO INTO COLD FURY IF YOU DON'T! **_Jeb yelled in my head. I winced because...well...that hurt. I mean having a voice scream in your head is like getting hit with a hammer in the head, or having a bucket of ice cold water with sharp ice hitting you or-

_**MAX!!!!**_ Jeb screamed. I refocused on the situation. Fang was actually starting to turn blue and his eyes were getting a black tint to it. Not good.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. What did Hunter say again?

Music...couldn't remember any songs I liked _now._

Sibling? Well, Hunter's obviously not in thinking range or I would've contacted him already.

Mate.

For some reason, that made my thoughts jump to me and Fang kissing in the cave.

Kissing.

Immediately I started feeling my hands again. I withdrew them from Fang's neck and backed up. I started to feel my legs, arms, neck and faced. I backed away from Fang, not wanting to be near him and curled up in the corner. I heard Fang gasping for breath.

Oh, God. I almost killed Fang. _Killed Fang._ I should have been able to stop it. I mean when Fang _and_ Shadow were in Cold Fury they didn't try to kill anyone in the Flock. And Shadow had a reason to kill Hunter.

So why was I the exception?

"Max?" Fang's voice echoed through the room. I stood quiet.

"Max? I know you're in the room," he said. I didn't feel like answering right now.

"Max, if you don't answer me right now, I'll never talk to you again," he threatened. Well, that would be no difference, I thought.

_**Max, he's serious, **_the Voice aka _Dad _put in. I rolled my eyes but thought about it. Would Fang do that? He_ is_ capable of it...

"Fang," I rasped out, surprised at how my voice sounded.

"Max, can you unstrap me from the table?" Fang said. Oh yeah, I _should_ do that. I got up from the cold ground and went over to Fang. He was staring at me cautiously as if waiting for me to snap again. I unstrapped him from the table. He sat up and rolled his shoulders.

"Thanks," he said. I looked at him wide-eyed. He still trusted me? He looked at me with solemn dark eyes and patted my shoulder.

"Lets get out of here," he said.

**(A/N I _was_ going to end it here, but I'm tired of all of the evil cliffies already (I bet all of you are agreeing with me) and I want this story to _move_ because it's going to be _long_ with _chances_ of a sequel so yeah, enjoy the longness)**

* * *

"Anyone out there?" a weak voice called. I shot up, feeling my face turn hot. Hunter and I were so close to _kissing_.

Like whoa.

Me and Hunter?

I mean, it's not like we've never done it before but still...

"Who's there?" Hunter's voice rang out through the quiet apartment. Silence then...

"Brian," a voice said that I recognized to be Ghost's said. "Brian, is that you?" My breath caught in my throat.

"Ghost?" Hunter said. "Where are you?"

"Your room," Ghost said, his quiet voice barely audible. "Please tell me that's you." Hunter signaled me to cover him and I walked behind him to the room.

"Yeah I'm here. Stay away from the door," Hunter said. We stopped in front of the door and exchanged a look. It's creepy how we knew what the other was thinking most of the time.

Simultaneously, we both kicked down the door revealing four humans, covered with dirt and blood.

A few minutes later...

I went downstairs, and saw Max and Fang, looking as cool as cucumbers. Like I hadn't called for help a few minutes ago.

"Max, Fang," I said. Both of them jumped and looked at me. Jeez, paranoid much? They looked a bit...odd.

_Fang? _I called out with in my mind. Nothing. Like he wasn't even near me. That's weird.

"Yes, how are things?" Max said. Um...okay then...like I said, weirdness.

"Did you guys..._do_ anything?" I asked. They both gave me strange looks.

"What do you mean?" Fang asked, coolly. A little _too_ coolly.

"If you guys made out or anything like that, I'm totally cool with that," I told them. But instead of the usual Fang, Max reaction being Fang trying to kill me with his glare and Max turning as red as a tomato, they looked at me with horror.

"Who? US?!" Max squeaked out, which didn't sound quite right coming from her.

"Um...okay...forget I said anything. Uh...lets just go upstairs," I said feeling more speechless than usual. We walked inside the building and I found it strange that Max didn't ask me to report on what had happened upstairs. Whatever.

I opened the door to my apartment and let them in. It wasn't very big. 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, messy living room...the usual. Hunter was nursing (Hunter? Nursing? Oh God this is turning into one twisted up evening) Cass, Chris, Ghost, and Lies. Nothing had really changed except for their hair dyes which were faded out. Ghost's hair was turning black again (he had dyed it brown don't ask why), Lies hair was turning back to a sandy brown (neon green hair, again don't ask) and the streaks in Chris's and Cass's hair were fading. I sighed, feeling the tips of my own hair where, a few months ago, it was dyed purple. I smiled when I remembered Hunter with blue streaks in his hair.

"Hunter!" Max said, went over and hugged him. Hmm...maybe Hunter did kill me. That would explain a lot. Or maybe I'm in a coma stuck in an alternate reality until I wake up. Because that would explain the almost-kiss and the Max hugging Hunter thing. Crackle did tackle me into the wall pretty hard...

"So these are your friends?" Fang asked. I nodded and looked back at them. They were all pretty quiet, as if afraid of us. It hurt my heart to think of that.

A quick turning of the doorknob and a loud curse snapped me out of my thoughts. I gave Hunter a sideways look and he nodded. I looked at Max to see what she thought but she was looking at me expectantly as if _I_ was the leader.

Um, okay then. Ghost got up and stood next to me as if willing to defend me, like old times.

I went to the door and opened it, immediately slipping into a fighter's stance.

There was the rest of the Flock, standing with a Ghost, Cass, Chris, and Lies.

My eyes narrowed. This was going to be a problem.

"SKY! We found you. Oh my God! Finally," Chris said.

"What the hell happened to your eyes?" Lies asked. Um...about that...

"I can't believe it. Can I?" Cass said.

"One question," Ghost said, his body stiffening as if he was going to punch someone. "WHY THE HELL AM I BEHIND YOU?!"

"SHADOW, WATCH OUT!" Nudge screamed. I whirled around to see "Ghost" morphing into an Eraser. Chris and Cass screamed in horror.

"WHAT THE FUCK _IS_ THAT?!" Lies shouted. I punched the Eraser in the face, trying to ignore the fact that it still looked a bit like Ghost. Hunter ran into the hallway that led to the door. His eyes widened then hardened.

"Shut the doo-AGH!" he hollered as "Cass", "Chris", and "Lies" jumped him.

"FUCK!" I screamed out. Max was going to have my head later, but whatever. And since she decided to be mute and not give out orders... "Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, Angel, get the hell in here! Gazzy hold the door so they won't get in! Hurry!" I shouted and lunged at the mass that was on Hunter. I ripped "Lies" off of Hunter. Hunter meanwhile pushed Chris of off him and I kicked Cass.

I looked back at Max and Fang to see they were arguing _now _of all times.

"HEY!" Hunter shouted. They both whirled around to stare at him. "What the hell is wrong with you two?!" They looked at him as if he had grown three heads when one of the Erasers lunged at them. I looked back at the door to see Gazzy holding it. There were bang every so often like they were trying to break it down. Tough luck with that.

"HEY! OPEN UP! SKY! BRIAN! _PLEASE_!" Cass screamed. It hurt me to do be doing this but...

An Eraser lunged and I sidestepped. The Eraser ate the ground. I ran and kicked it's head hard, knocking it out. That's one down...

Nudge and Iggy were double teaming one of them and it was faltering. I saw the door shakes becoming more violent.

"Angel!" Hunter called from his own brawl with an Eraser. "Help Gazzy with the door! Don't mind control them or anything, just help him hold it!" I ran over and did a roundhouse kick on the Eraser. It grunted. Hunter gave him an uppercut and and clapped my cupped hands over his ears, hoping I did it correctly. I was rewarded by a scream of pain and horror. I went to Hunter's side and we both kicked his chest. He hit the ground, unconscious. I scanned the area to see all the Erasers were on the ground. Good.

I looked at Max for orders, but there was nothing. I gritted my teeth and exchanged a look with Hunter. This was getting stupid already. What's with her?!

"SKY! BRIAN!" I heard Ghost shout, which brought me back to the current situation. Hunter and I ran to the door and held it in with ease, super bird strength at work.

"Everyone! Get out of here! We'll be right out!" Hunter shouted. Hesitantly, everyone crowded around the living room window, opening it, and one by one, they flew out.

"Alright, we let go of it right...now," I jumped from the door and watched as it bursted open and 4 humans hit the floor. I stared and Hunter yanked at my arm. I blinked feeling tears and ran into the living room. Hunter and I spared them one last glance. Ghost looked up at us.

"Brian...Sky..." he rasped out, his voice hoarse because of the screaming. I turned away, feeling hot tears run, knowing that if I looked anymore, I wouldn't leave. I went through my pocket and let one silver and gold feather fall to the ground. Hunter dragged me to the window and practically threw me out and jumped out after me.

"NO!" someone screamed. I spread my wings and flew upwards to the roof, where my Flock was waiting.

**Me: Okay, so that is a wee bit of an evil cliffe. In the meanwhile, review:)**


	20. Hot, Sexy Beasts

**Me: Welcome to Chapter 20**

**Shadow: How many times do I have to say it? She doesn't own Maximum Ride! Damn! I'm recording this so I don't have to say it any freaking more!**

**Hunter: Someone's moody.**

**Shadow: SHUT UP! AND GET ME ICE CREAM! **

**Me: Thanks to (takes deep breath) Maximum Ride all the way, victorianvamp105, S.L. Michaels, Nathaniel773, aviator, meepisms, Evil Angel of DOOM, Egypt-Girl-9, Canada-Star, Jesus-Freak2142, golden-clawed-angel, lilswickey101, biblocrazed, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, and Oni Hunter. Oh, and Hunter, get me some ice cream too?**

**Hunter: Meanies...**

**Me: Hey, I asked politely.**

**Shadow: (starts crying) All I want is some ice cream...**

**Hunter and me: O.o**

**Chapter 20: Hot, Sexy Beasts**

Ghost's POV

Sky and Brian jumped out the window before I could do anything more.

"No!" Chris screamed. I shot up, ran to the window, and looked down. There were no broken bodies of the 2 on the floor.

What the heck?

I couldn't but remember Sky opening the door, her face impassive but fierce. She looked as if she was going to lunge at us if we were the wrong person. Her eyes though..._her eyes..._

The metallic silver scrutinizing all of us was just..._odd..._coming from her, like she's a different person. Then Brian coming down the hall his _gold_ eyes widening in surprise. Then there was that me coming and standing next to Sky.

Then the way Sky punched the guy in the face.

Why did that girl, Tiffany-Krystal call Sky 'Shadow' though?

And where have I heard that name before?

"Guys," Lies said shakily. I looked back and saw him helping Cass up. "I think we should get out of here." I looked around at the wolf thing's and whole-heartedly agreed. Those things were obviously dangerous. We cautiously walked out, and went into Brian's house, which was conveniently open. I opened the door to Brian's room and sat down on the couch here. There was no bed here, he shared with Sky since their parents don't like the idea of them being alone.

Yeah, they let a boy and a girl share a _room_. How's that idea?

Chris flopped down next to me while Lies leaned on a table. Cass sat down at the computer chair and stared at it, turning it on.

"Well then," Lies said, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "That was different."

"Wh-what happened? They jumped out the freaking _window_ and disappear without a trace. Just like last time," Chris said, tears leaking down her cheeks. Lie came over and sat next to her, comforting her.

"Not quite," Cass said. I looked at her. Her face was scrunched and she held up the feathers that Sky had dropped. Silver and Gold.

"So what?" Lies said. "Those feathers are their favorite colors. And?" Cass gritted her teeth.

"You still don't _get_ it? Here. Look," She uploaded a page and I looked. Fang's blog.

"And," I said. "That's Sky's favorite blogger." She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Fine since you guys want to play dense," she sighed and started reading. "We found two new bird kids like us. Blah blah blah. Looks. Like. Us. May. Be Our. Siblings. Get it yet?" My head was reeling.

"What does this Fang guy look like. And the other girl," I asked.

"Max has pale skin, dirty blonde hair and brown eyes," Cass said. "Fang has olive skin, black hair and dark eyes." I blinked and held on to the table. "Sky had called the names 'Iggy', 'Nudge', 'Gasman', and 'Angel'. The exact names of the people mentioned here. Shadow and Hunter is Sky and Brian." Silence ensued as we put the pieces together. _And they fit._

In the next moment, the door opened. I froze and quietly, peeked my head out the door. There were 3 wolf people in the apartment. _Heading our way._

* * *

Shadow's POV

I landed on the roof, vigorously wiping my tears off of my face. Now I looked like a red and silver eyed mess. Great.

Hunter looked at me and put an arm around me. Max looked and glared at me. I gave her a questioning look. She flipped her hair in my direction and looked at the rest of the Flock.

"Alright, guys. What do we like, do now?" she said. I stared at her. Did she just put 'like' in the middle of a sentence? The rest of the Flock stared at their Leader in horror. Their expressions were like _What the hell?_

"Max?" Hunter called. She looked at him, a humongous smile on her features that didn't quite fit on her face. And anyways, since when did she smile like _that_, when speaking to her _brother_?

"Um-uh..." Hunter was obviously shocked by this...um..._lovely __surprise_...but managed to regain himself. "Max, are you okay?"

"Yeah sure Brian, why do you ask?" she said. My eyes narrowed. There's only one person with the exception of our friends that calls him Brian...

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Yep! Just chipper!" she answered. I rolled my eyes and refrained myself from taking her out right here and now.

"Max? Why are you blocking me from your mind?" Angel asked. "Max" looked at her, giving the girl the evil eye. I went over, stood next to Angel and glared at our "Leader". Annabell is the Leader in my nightmares. And it seemed I was in a pretty deep sleep.

"Well, _Angel_, sometimes people like their thoughts to be private," "Max" hissed.

"That's enough," Hunter said coming over. "We've all been through a lot today so lets just go to the hotel and rest."

"Good idea," Fang said, stepping in. "Lets go." I stared at my "brother". So if Annabell decided to play Max, then who's...

"Come on, Shadow," "Max" said, already airborne. I sighed and took off.

"_So_," she said surging next to me. Oh perfect. "What do we talk about?" I inwardly smiled deviously. This was going to be _fun._

"We talk about how hot and sexy the boys are," I said, trying not to snicker. She nodded eagerly which made me want to just fall out of the sky laughing my wings off. Iggy turned to look at me, a horrified look on his face. Angel knew what I was doing and filled in Iggy, who nodded and chuckled.

"Like Hunter, Fang-" I tried not to throw up as I mentioned my brother and sexy in the same breath. I mean he's my _brother_ people. And anyways, it seemed as if they didn't know about the sibling thing. "-Iggy, and Omega and we compare and contrast." I finished biting my lip hard.

"Alright so...Fang is very hot but he just isn't my type. He's more of your kind of guy," Well, that was a horrible image. Everyone minus Hunter heard this and was trying not to show any expression. Hunter was ahead of us in his own little world.

"And Iggy," she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Is also very hot. But I dunno, if it were between him and Hunter I'd choose Hunter." I tried not to retch when she said that. I mean, she was using Max's voice for Lord's sake! I associate the two with brother and sister. It's disgusting to think of them in _that_ way.

"And Omega...ICK! That's so WRONG!" At this "Fang" turned to glare at her. Which proved my hypothesis. Omega was playing Fang. So now, the next question. Where's Fang and Max?

"And why?" I questioned, enjoying myself.

"He's just so conceited with himself like 'Oh, I'm Omega. I'm the best since the Director likes to kiss my ass' and he acts all better-than-thou and-" I decided to cut her off before Omega attacked her.

"How do you know this," I said. "If you've never done anything with each other than trade insults and fight?" Omega's glare on Annabell intensified.

"Well-um...I-I'm sure...because it's obvious! Yeah, obvious..." she said. I bit my lip to refrain from smirking. I'm so freaking _evil_.

"So, anyways shall we move onto Hunter?" I said. I tried not to barf when her eyes lit up. We were getting closer to our destination anyways.

"He is so HOT!" "Max" squealed. That really shocked me. I mean Max squealing? Annabell could be a much better actor than that. "Such a hot, sexy, BEAST!" My eye started twitching. This was really starting to disturb me. "I mean even when he's dirty he rocks my SOCKS! Don't you agree?" she said. Well, I wasn't expecting _that_.

"Um-yeah sure...Hunter is a hot sexy beast. And I...um..." I couldn't continue. I never thought _those_ words would ever leave my mouth. Especially while speaking to _her_.

"I wanna tap **that** piece of ass," Max said. I let out a whimper. Well, that was going to haunt me for life.

"Huh?" she asked. "Did you say something?"

"Um..." I trailed off. Hunter surged over thankfully. But since Annabell is a bitch and always will be, she said this:

"Sky-I mean Shadow here said that you were a hot sexy beast," she said. My eyes widened, but luckily Hunter knows me better than anyone here does.

"Funny Max. Anyways, the hotel is right below us so we're going to land soon," he said and surged off. Annabell sighed and I didn't even bother to look at her. Since she freaking scarred me for life, lets bug her.

"But we didn't come to the subject of the day," I said. She looked at me curiously. "How Annabell is such a bitch."

"WHAT??!!!" She screeched and I couldn't help but wince. Dang, I think all five boroughs heard _that_.

"How dare you talk behind my-I mean her- back! That's rude!" She hollered. "Fang" flew above her and covered her mouth.

"What's going on?" Hunter called. I went above him brushing my wings with his.

"Tell you later," I muttered as we landed.

* * *

Max's POV

"We can't go in the middle of the street like this," I said to Fang. I was still feeling guilty for going all Cold Fury on him and was sitting farther away from him than necessary, but he respected that and allowed me to go to my corner of depression. Yeah, call me an emo kid, I _dare_ you.

"But it _is_ New York," Fang put in jokingly.

"Oh, ha ha Fang. Hilarious," I said, not in the mood. "Unfortunately, it's the beginning of Autumn. And I think someone will notice especially since we have freaking _wings_ on our backs. People in New York aren't _that _dense." Fang smirked.

"Care to test out that theory?" he said, holding out a hand. I smirked. What? His good mood can be contagious. I took his hand and he pulled me up. But he yanked me so hard that I almost crashed into him. We were standing _mucho_ close to each other. Actually mucho doesn't even cover how close we were standing to each other. I was staring at him, analyzing every feature. His olive skin, coal eyes...getting closer...

"C'mon," Fang said, turning away and dragging me. I was confused. What the hell? I mean he had no problem kissing me a few months ago. What's up now?

_**He's afraid of rejection, Max, **_the Voice put in.

_Why thanks Jeb. Too bad that I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!!!! _I screamed in my head. The Voice didn't answer. Probably trying to fend off a major migraine. Ha ha.

"Max. Look," Fang said. I focused on my surroundings. Two beds in an off white room. And wardrobes. Which equals clothes. Which equals ability to blend. And they say my math skills need work.

"Lets look," I said. I went to the pink wardrobe and Fang went to the blue. I opened it, and in front of me, was the most expensive I've ever seen. I pulled out one that cost about a hundred dollars and my eyes widened.

It was a piece of fabric. That's all.

"How the heck am I supposed to wear this?!" I said. Fang looked over and chuckled. I glared at him and put the piece back. I scavenged through the closet and finally found a shirt. It was just a plain red shirt. I looked in the back and say it already had slits in it.

So this was Annabell's closet. No wonder.

I slipped on the shirt and a pair of tight hipster jeans. I looked at Fang glaring at the closet with a black shirt that said: I Don't give a Fuck, on it. How eloquent.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"There's no black jeans that _fit_ in here," he said. "Omega's the same height as you now. I'm taller." Something prompted me to look at Annabell's closet again and I saw black among all the colors. I pulled it out. It was a pair of plain, black, ripped up guy jeans. What the heck were they doing in Annabell's closet?

"Here Fang," I said. "Found one." Fang looked at me skeptically.

"I'm **not** wearing girl jeans," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"They're too baggy to be girl jeans. Put them on," I urged. Fang sighed and slipped them on. Almost perfect, a bit big but fine. Fang found Omega's combat boots while I found...sandals...heels...flats.

Finally! I dug through and found a pair of combat boots on Omega's side of the room that fit me. Thank goodness the boy had small feet. They were old and worn, while Fang's pair were quite new.

"Lets go," I said, standing up.

"Where to?" Fang asked also standing.

"Hunter's apartment."

**Me: I sense trouble in the horizon...oh and review:)**


	21. Discoveries

**Me: And we're back. I'm not feeling very...myself lets just put it like that. So if this chapter comes out depressed or off(like little sarcasm) just give me some slack for this one. A lot of crap happened to me this week...which means I'm very stressed...which equals barely any jokes and sarcasm. And you people need an update so...yeah...Oh, and the title may change because well...I want to change it.**

**Shadow: She doesn't own Maximum Ride. She owns the characters that are not in the Maximum Ride books.**

**Hunter: Yeah, so no stealing or she'll go all Shadow-when-she's-in-Cold-Fury on you. Thanks to aviator301, bibliocrazed, Nathaniel773, S.L. Michaels, NorahJones, victorianvamp105, lilswickey101, FantasyFan5, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, golden-clawed-angel, Jesus-Freak2142, and Frances. **

**Chapter 21: Discoveries**

Max's POV

We were in the exact same spot where we left Hunter and Shadow off.

I looked at Fang who had a slight hint of worry on his face. "She's not here," he said. "They were close but now she's gone." I nodded.

"C'mon, lets investigate upstairs," I said. He nodded and basically, sparing you the oh so riveting details, got upstairs. We walked up to the door and heard a bloodcurdling scream emerge. My eyes widened and I threw open the door. I saw (Shadow told me the names) Snap, Crackle, and Pop smiling demoniacally and one of them holding up one of Hunter's friends.

They were going _down_.

"Hey Snap," I called. The Eraser whirled around, hating the dubbed name. "Bet you I can kick your ass." The Eraser surged towards me, angered. I smirked and ducked. The Eraser flew over me and landed in the hallway. Fang was going to take care of him. I smiled. This was going to be fun.

I rushed at one that I guessed that it was Pop. I threw a kick that had him flying and he hit Crackle who released the dark haired boy. I put my boot clad foot on Crackle's throat.

"Now, you either get out of here nice and quietly, or I kick your can from here to Russia. Your choice," I snarled. The Eraser glared at me then looked away. I removed my foot and Crackle grabbed Pop and they ran out. Fang came back, impassive as always.

"And I was having fun," he said. I smirked. Suddenly all of Hunter's friends were staring at us. If I recalled...Chris, Cass, Ghost and Lies were their names.

"Thanks," the black haired boy said. I nodded.

"I'm guessing you guys are friends of Brian and Sky," the green haired boy asked. I nodded again feeling like Fang.

"Were they here?" Fang asked from beside me. The black-haired boy looked at him and his eyes widened. _Uh-oh..._

"Are you...no, you just left with them. Why'd you come back? Did some thing happen to them?" the black-haired boy asked frantically. I exchanged a look with Fang. This was going to get difficult.

"We didn't leave with them," I said. They all focused on me. "Long story short, some people are posing as us to try to get to them." 8 pairs of eyes widened in horror. Instead of the expected rush of questions, their response was:

"So what can we do to help?"

* * *

Shadow's POV

"WHAT?!" Hunter exploded. I winced.

"I said that Annabell is acting like your sister and Omega is acting like my brother."

"AND YOU'VE BEEN SITTING ON THIS ALL THIS TIME!" Hunter yelled again, pacing angrily around the room. We were in a different hotel than last time and Hunter and I were having a moment in one of the rooms we rented.

"NO! And _hush_! You don't want them coming in and finding out that we know." Hunter sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. I went on the bed, crawled next to him, and rubbed in between his wings so he could _relax _for once. I felt his muscles loosen up under my finger tips. His eyes closed and his head turned towards the ceiling.

"That better?" I asked.

"Huh?" I leaned closer to him.

"I asked if that was better," I breathed in his ear. He tensed up again and jumped from his seat, throwing me backwards onto the cushiony mattress.

"Hunter?" I asked as he strode into the bathroom. My mind raced to keep up with everything. What was happening? He just threw himself into the bathroom to-to _what_?

My thoughts jumped to the almost kiss, and then an epiphany hit me full in the face.

Hunter thinks I like him in _that_ way. And _he doesn't like me that way_.

A jolt hit my heart that had me wanting to gasp for breath. No-wait yes, I mean-...I couldn't let him see me like this.

I had to get **out **of here.

I jumped up and was about to open the window when the door opening startled me.

"Shadow?" I froze in place. "Shadow, what are you doing?"

"Giving you some alone time," my voice was surprisingly steady.

"NO! no...come here," he said. He came over, dragged me to the bed, and sat me down next to him. Hunter started to deeply examine my gloved hand with deep interest and trace all the marks on it.

"I...need to think about this," he said, still not meeting my eyes. "With you."

"Okay," I said, unsure. "Shoot."

"Well...remember that almost kiss?" he said. I winced. The way his voice sounded was _not good._ "And that real kiss a few months ago when I was getting kidnapped by the School?"

"Yes," I whispered.

"I want to know," I breathed in and looked me straight in the eyes. "If...no forget it. I CAN'T DO THIS!" He yelled burying his head in his hands. I felt my eyes widen in surprise. His hand started slipping from mine but I held tight. That's when I really realized...

When I realized that I really did _love_ Hunter. And not in a friendly, like a brother manner.

Yes, you can cue the music now, your choice.

But he obviously didn't like me back, in that way.

Good Lord, I hate my life.

"Hunter," I whispered. "It's okay. If you don't like me like that...I'll just help find my brother and Max and we'll pretend this never happened." He looked up at me, surprise written on his face.

"That's not what I'm...UGH! I'm so freaking confused!" He said. I put his head on my shoulder and stroked his hair.

"It's okay. Just...well...okay lets rewind. You said remember..._those_...times so, what do you want to remember?" I said calmly, surprising myself. Hunter calmed his breathing and looked straight at me.

"Do you um...do you...want to see-want to make sure..." he kept trailing off and stuttering. But I knew what he was getting at. I've known him longer than I could walk.

"You're asking permission to kiss me?" I said. His eyes widened.

"How did you-"

"I can read you like a book," I said, tousling his hair. He grinned and stared at me seriously.

"So can I?" My stomach did five flips then settled down. This is it, the moment...

I leaned in close but not so close. "Is that," I breathed out. "Answer enough?" His breath shuddered and he nodded.

Tentatively he leaned in, as if afraid I would fade away and I felt him squeeze my hand. I looked and saw that he had taken off the glove on my right hand. Wow. I didn't notice.

I looked back at him and saw he had a small grin on his lips. Oh, this is it...this is the moment...

Of discovery...

"HI PEOPLE!" A voice screeched. I immediately launched out of my seat and into a fighters stance. I saw Hunter fall face first onto where I was sitting. I looked back at the door and saw "Max" running in and "Fang" grinning smugly at the doorway. Adrenaline rushed into my veins. This isn't going to end well...

"What were you doing?" Annabell asked, bouncing on the bed, making me cringe. She was giving me Max images that didn't look quite right. Max bouncing? Only if she was drunk/high. Which wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Where's the rest of the Flock?" Hunter grumbled.

"Sleeping," Annabell said sweetly. Too sweetly... I walked towards the door and Omega stopped me.

"Shadow! Max said I have a brown streak in my hair," he whined, making my eyes want to cry blood. Seriously. Fang. _Whining_. That really kills something inside you. Omega continued, "Can you help me find it?"

I exchanged a look with Hunter and he nodded. "Okay." I followed him into the bathroom.

Now, let me tell you. The bathroom was damn small. Omega and I could barely fit in there. But he still managed to stand near the mirror and I sat on the bathtub rim.

"Here," he said, pulling up a tuft of hair. "Look." I stood up and looked. Sure enough, his hair was getting lighter, turning into the pale brown color that we all know and love.

"G-GET OFF ME! YOU'RE MY SISTER FOR LORD'S SAKE!" Hunter shouted from the other room. I looked into the other room where Hunter was glaring at "Max", who had a surprised look on her face.

"Wh-what?! Max is your sister?!" she squealed.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

"Attack him!" Omega roared from behind me. The next thing I knew arms wrapped around my waist, air rushing around me, and PAIN. Sweet mercy, THE PAIN!

Stars danced around me and I was barely aware of anything at the moment. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the things around me. A loud crash, scream...silence.

Door slam.

"GET OFF HER!" I heard someone scream. I felt some heavy weight come off me and someone lugging me up and carrying me.

"Shadow! SHADOW!" Hunter...that's who it was...I think...

I heard a thunk.

"Hun...Hunter..." I said barely able to say anything...then...

"YOU BASTERD! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!" a familiar presence entered my brain and I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Max's POV

Fang is usually mister three c's. Cool, Calm, and Collected. So, when he started yelling Omega about 'basterd' and 'sister' I deduced that something really bad happened. Which equals Oh Crap.

I ran into the hotel room to see Omega fighting off a Pissed Fang and Annabell looking around desperately. I ran over and grabbed her by her shirt.

"Where's the others?" I snarled, making my voice as threatening as possible. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"That's for me to know and for you to-" She started.

"OH MY GOD!" I heard Cass scream.

"Get Max in here!" Lies yelled. I dropped Annabell and she immediately threw an uppercut. I leaned back and used the momentum to send a roundhouse kick. She banged into the wall hard. Annabell howled in pain.

Omega looked over and hollered "ABORT! MISSION FAILED! ABORT!" Annabell narrowed her eyes in fury and ran past me.

"HEY!" I yelled. By the time I reached the hallway, they had disappeared. Well crap.

I looked at Fang and saw that he was breathing heavily and his eyes had a black tint. _Uh oh..._

_**Max, calm him down,**_ Jeb said. I managed to control the urge to roll my eyes and went over.

"Fang," I said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, calm down. They're gone now." Fang's breathing slowed to a normal pace. He looked at me, dark eyes filled with pain.

"They-"

"MAX!" Ghost (I learned their names) hollered. I exchanged a look with Fang and we ran out the room and into the other room. I almost screamed in horror.

There, the Flock was strewn in various places. Hunter was sitting by the bed, his head rotating and his eyes held a far off look. Shadow was on the bed, unconscious. Great.

_**Max, they both have received concussions, take them back to their apartments. The rest of the Flock should wake up right about...now. **_As soon as he said that Iggy groaned.

_What happened? _I asked him.

_**It seems that Omega and Annabell poisoned the Flock's drinks so they can be temporarily knocked out, so they can get Shadow and Hunter. You got their just in time.**_

I breathed in relief. Now, to get everyone there...

**Me: Yes, I know. Horrible chapter. You can accuse it of being a filler. I really HATE how this came out. But, like I said, I want this story to **_**move.**_** Yeah, so review while I type up the **_**better, next **_**chappie:)**


	22. Head Pains

**Me: Welcome to chapter 22. I got past 200 reviews! I equal happiness right now! Oh and I no changey title. He he.**

**Shadow recording: How many times do I have to say it? She doesn't own Maximum Ride! Damn! I'm recording this so I don't have to say it any freaking more!**

**Hunter recording: Someone's moody.**

**Shadow recording: SHUT UP! AND GET ME-(recording cuts off)**

**Me: Um...wow...**

**Omega: The author owns her characters, so no stealing. **

**Me: Hey! Where's Shadow and Hunter?**

**Omega: (shrugs) They ran away and got married.**

**Me: (gasps) Really?**

**Omega: No. I just shoved Hunter down the Annabell-eating toilet and Shadow's trying to get him out. **

**Me:(nods in understanding, then turns to audience) Anyways, thanks to ILuvFang, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, meepisms, bionicwoman, S.L. Michaels, aviator301, Anon, bibliocrazed, Nathaniel773, golden-clawed-angel, lilswickey101, FantasyFan5, Frances, victorianvamp105, Jesus-Freak2142, evilcarrotofdoom, Maximum Ride all the way, Pyromaniac-Girl, and lion fell in luv with the lamb. **

**Chapter 22: Head Pains**

Hunter's POV

I knew that this was a dream but it didn't make it any less real.

This dream may be because of the fact the Annabell hit me over the head with a vase and that I blacked out soon after I brought Shadow to safety. But then, this dream has happened to me a bunch of times before.

I looked around. Everything was blurry, unclear. I only knew one thing, and one thing only. Get to _Her_. Get to her before it was too late.

I walked forward and opened a door. A room, but again, nothing was clear. It was really a smudge of light purple and black. And on top of...something was a note. I opened it and it read,

_Knowledge can be a bitch, huh? Ignorance is bliss, don't you agree? Don't fret, Oh great Hunter, your shade won't be here anymore. Her unrequited love won't disturb your greater devotion to that_**_ monster. _**_The dark is forever yours and will live in Solitude for you. _

I let it fall to the floor, whirled around, and ran out the door, going down, down, down. And to the right, then right again, then out. I looked ahead and saw her. She was wearing a white tank top, a white skirt, and flip flops. She looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"No!" I called. "You don't have to go." She stared at me as I ran towards her, trying to engulf her in a hug, to stop her from going.

And I passed right through her.

I practically ate the ground. I got up and looked at her. She was looking at me coldly and started disappearing. I reached out to grab her and my hand passed through. The last thing that disappeared was her silver bloodshot eyes...

**_CMS_**

I jolted up into sitting position, panting and sweating. My eyes started adjusting to darkness. I blinked and looked around. The dark blue covers on the bed, the vanity in the corner with black nail polish and other various things on it, the poster on the right side of the room that said, _Rock Out Loud_, on it. I looked down and saw I was wearing a large T-shirt that said Shoot Hoops, not People on it. I blinked again. Was Max and the Flock a dream?

I looked to my right and saw Shadow...or is it Sky? She was sleeping soundlessly, black covers pulled to her shoulders. She looked so peaceful, so serene...

I pulled myself onto my feet. I looked down and saw that I had wore blood-splattered blue jeans to bed. Clue numero one.

I dragged myself to the vanity. My head was pounding as I looked in the mirror. I looked like crap. I felt like crap. But I recognized those gold eyes.

I was still a bird boy. Joy.

"Ungh," Shadow groaned. I looked over at her. She was sitting up rubbing her head. I remembered how loud that thump was. When I go to look...

I shuddered at the memory. Omega had slammed Shadow into the bathtub. I shuddered again and looked at her. She looked over at the wall and blinked a few time, and her face turned into a mask of fury.

"Where's the others? What did you do to them? TELL ME!" she shouted. I blinked. What the hell...

"Shadow they're fine I think, they-" I said. She continued to stare at the wall, not looking at me.

"STOP IMITATING HUNTER AND TELL ME WHERE THE FLOCK IS!" she screamed shooting up to her feet. She did that too quickly and ended falling over, clutching her stomach. I ran to her side and gathered her to me.

"Shadow? SHADOW?" I was yelling now. I could hear someone tugging at the door. She looked up concern written on her face.

"Go Hunter, bring the others, I'll hold him off," she said. I noticed her pupils were _very_ dilated.

"Who's he?" I asked.

"OMEGA! BE CAREFUL, HE'S BEHIND YOU!" she screamed. I heard Fang crying out in pain and Max screaming. I whirled around and saw _him._ He was standing there, with a smug grin and cold eyes. I shot to my feet and went into a fighter's stance.

"Get out Omega," I growled. He continued to stand there with his arms crossed. Shadow grabbed my arm. Her hands nearly froze my arm. She was so _cold._

"Help m-me," she stuttered. I looked at her with wide eyes. Really now, what the _fuck _was going on?

In the next second, I was on the floor, my nose screaming in pain. Ow...Omega's so going to _pay._

I heard Shadow cry out and saw he was on her, strangling her.

"GET OFF HIM!" I heard Max scream.

"FANG!" That was Cass. So wait,...someone's out there?

"Someone open this door!" Ghost screamed. The door shuttered a few times. I looked and lunged at Omega. And _passed right through him. _I hit the wall. Crap. This was getting _Really_ bad, _really_ fast. Especially since Shadow was turning pale and her hands that were trying to loosen him were losing their grip.

I lunged at him again, and he rolled out the way, making me hit the wall and everything went dark.

Again.

"He's waking up," I heard someone whisper.

"Oh gosh, he is? Is he okay? Does he remember what happened? Is he paralyzed? Does he know about Shadow? Do-" As soon as I heard Shadow's name, I jumped up.

"Where is she?" I asked. I looked around and saw Fang on the other bed, unconscious and Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy in the room, staring at me.

"Who?" Iggy asked, as if he didn't know who I was talking about.

"SHADOW GOD DAMIT! WHO ELSE?" I yelled. Nudges eyes widened in surprise. Iggy pointed to the doorway, speechless. I ran out and looked in the living room. Max and Angel were surrounding this corner. I walked up to them and saw a silver winged mass. I walked up to them and lightly pushed them away.

There was Shadow. She was wrapped into a little ball. I put a hand on her shoulder. I stiffened.

"Shadow," I said softly. She shuddered. I went closer to her ear "Shadow?" She tightened in her little ball. I looked at the others.

"Can you guys...give us a moment?" I asked. Max nodded and left, grabbing Angel's arm and bringing her away. I looked back at Shadow.

"I..." she said. I leaned in closer. "I can't remember anything." The room suddenly closed in, and I fell back.

"Wh-what?" I asked. The room started to get fuzzy, Oh no, oh no.

"Hunter?" her voice was barely a whisper.

"HUNTER!" she screamed. I tried to focus on her. She was holding my head up, tears in her eyes. Tears...she hardly ever cries...

"What happened?" I heard Max say.

"IGGY! GET IGGY!" Shadow screamed, hysterical. I tried to rid the fuzziness but it all took hold.

Ugh, how I hate unconsciousness.

* * *

Shadow's POV

Waiting. I hate it. I waited for my brother to wake. He's still unconscious. Max also hates waiting too. Her right hand man and her brother...

Hunter. What happened? One minute you were there, the next...

"It's okay Shadow, relax," Dr. Martinez said from next to me. Yeah, her, Ella, and Jeb came a few minutes after Hunter blacked out.

"Fang should be okay, he has a broken arm and a minor concu-" Ella started. I left the room. I hated that word, concussion. Hunter's head was banged twice, and one of the times must've been my fault.

I knew that whatever happened to Hunter was my fault.

I stared at the room that housed Hunter and Fang. Jeb made Iggy and Nudge drag me and Max out. I rubbed my neck, which had strangle marks on it. The hurt, but that didn't matter.

"Shadow," Max called. I looked at her. She walked and sat down in the hall. I slid down next to her. Max's brown eyes were troubled.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Are you sure you don't remember anything?" she asked. I looked away.

"Yes," I said.

"Because you screamed something about Omega and-" The door opened and Jeb stepped out.

"You two have to relax, or you might get sick," Jeb advised. Max and I stood up.

"How are they?" Max asked.

"Well, Fang should be fine. His arm should be as good as new by Sunday," he said. I thought about it. Today was Friday...

"Hunter, on the other hand, should take a bit longer to heal," he said, looking away. My stomach revolted. Oh God, Oh no-

"What's wrong with him?" Max asked.

"Well, the first time, it's unclear what happened that gave him a concussion," he said. I remembered, back at the hotel the glass shattering...

"Glass?" I said. Jeb and Max looked at me.

"Something with glass," I said.

"A vase was shattered on the ground. You don't think-" Max said but I cut her off.

"Annabell," I growled. She blinked and Jeb nodded.

"The second time he blacked out was because of crashing into something hard," Jeb said.

"The wall," Max said flatly.

"Well, whatever he crashed into made the concussion serious so when he blacked out after he woke up wasn't your fault Shadow," he said. I swallowed.

"So is he going to wake up?" Max asked. Jeb looked down not meeting our eyes. Oh God, oh no, OH NO!

"Hopefully he will. The worst that could happen to him is-" he stopped.

"What?" I asked.

"He can go into a coma," he said bluntly. I felt all the blood drain from my face.

"Shadow?" Max asked. I swallowed and walked into the room. Fang looked at me, concerned.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," I whispered. I looked at Hunter and pulled a chair up to his bed.

And started to wait.

**Me: AH! NO! HUNTER! Review now and Hunter **_**might **_**wake up. **_**Might...**_


	23. Memories and Out of Control

**Me: Here is the next chapter. I don't own Maximum Ride nor the song Memories by Within Temptation. I own my many OC's. They're ALL MINE! MWA HA HA!**

**Omega: Um...okay. Thanks to meepisms, Within My Grasp, maxridefan95, Pyromaniac-Girl, evilcarrotofdoom, aviator301, Fang's Gurl 4ever, golden-clawed-angel, Jesus-Freak2142, S.L. Michaels, whatever95, Maximum Ride all the way, Irish Graffiti, lilswickey101, Nathaniel773, brebreisme, Frances, FangWannabe, nightingale07, and Loz727 for reviewing. The song lyrics are in italic. **

**Me: Now, for one of the most saddest parts of the fic(in my opinion especially when you're listening to the song while you're reading it) and the most shocking(maybe, you don't know what I'm going to do that will make you flame me to high heaven). Here we go...**

**Chapter 23: Part 1: Memories**

Shadow's POV

Two weeks.

Hunter went into a fucking coma. And it's been two weeks. Two weeks since I've seen those gold eyes. TWO WEEKS. AGH!

I threw a bottle of nail polish across the room. It made a black splatter on the wall. The black dripped, making long tear drops. I half saw Ghost run in.

"Are you okay?" I didn't answer. He sighed and left the room. I went to my stereo and turned it on. It was on the song Memories by Within Temptation. I could tell by the violin intro.

_Memories, Memories_

I sighed as the music came on and sat down on my bed.

_Memories, Memories_

If Hunter was here, he would've sat next to me and prodded me to tell him what the hell was wrong with me.

_In this world you tried_

_Not leaving me alone behind_

Ugh! What's wrong with me?! I talk and think about him like he's dead. _He practically is,_ my inner common sense said.

"Shut up," I muttered. _But look at him there,_ it continued. _He's just lying there, the only thing that's missing is the flowers._

"SHUT UP," I growled. I went over to him and held his hand. It was so _cold_...

Jeb had converted our room into a hospital room. The only thing that proved him alive was the steady _beep...beep..._of the heart monitor. I wished that he was able to talk to me right now. So bad. I wanted to communicate with him.

_There's no other way_

He'd laugh if he saw me. Moping around. And he'd be curious to see me praying, something that I have hardly ever done before. I pray every hour, to whoever's up there for his eyes to flutter open.

_I prayed to the gods let him stay_

Then those annoying flashbacks. Actually, I think they are the only reason why I think I'm still alive. Seeing him smiling, and laughing again is what gets me up in the morning. At first it was annoying, and even, in a way, mocking. But then it soothed my pain.

Because I knew, if he never woke up-a sob escaped me-that he was there for me. That he was there.

_The memories ease the pain inside,_

_now I know why_

I could see him know, as a human. When we were seven. There he is. Mini Hunter looked at me, giving me a toothy grin. I had teased him then, because he had lost his two front teeth.

_All of my memories keep near_

_In silent moments imagine you'd be here_

I could see three year old Hunter. He just stubbed his toe and it was bleeding. I could also see three year old me, smirking, but giving him my lollipop.

"I would kiss your hurtie," My younger self babbled. "But that would be nasty. I don't want to kiss your toe." Mini Hunter took the lollipop and stuck it in his mouth, wiping the tear that fell down his face. I sat back down on my bed.

_All of my memories keep you near_

_Your silent whispers, silent tears_

I'm sorry Hunter. I know you'd be scolding me to get up, to get moving. I don't remember eating anything for the last few days and I haven't changed out of my clothes. Well, I've taken showers Hunter. So don't worry about that. I'm trying to get on my feet.

I really am trying.

_Made my promise I'd try_

_to find my way back in this life_

But Hunter, I've spent one whole day on the Internet. I would've spent longer but Fang needed the computer.

Some people who had more serious injuries than you make noises, and _move_. You haven't done either.

I would run across the globe in excitement if you twitched your nose.

Please Hunter, a jerk would do. Consider it my birthday present for the next 20 years.

_I hope there is a way_

_to give me a sign you're okay_

Hunter, why? I could see a thirteen year old Hunter comforting me when Ghost and I broke up.

"Everything happens for a reason," he said, and disappeared.

_Remind me again it's worth it all_

_So I can go home_

I looked at Hunter's still form, just breathing. Breathing. _Beep...Beep... _

_All of my memories keep you near_

_In silent moments imagine you'd be here_

His very presence comforted me, I know, I'm pathetic, but whatever. You try going through what I'm going through.

I miss the way we could read each other's looks like a open book. I miss how he'd whisper to me, or hummed my favorite tune.

I miss him.

_All of my memories keep you near_

_Your silent whispers, silent tears_

In mostly all of my memories, _he's_ there. And...I guess if he's there, he's never _not_ there. There he is again. The Hunter I knew. The golden eyed mutant, smiling. It was like the sun coming out.

_Together in all these memories_

_I see your smile _

If you never wake up Hunter, the best thing you ever gave me was you. If you could wake up, you would've. You'll always be with me, where ever you are.

_All the memories I hold dear_

But, there's one thing I won't do. I won't ever-DANG IT!

Tears were leaking again. I hated this. Maybe speaking aloud...

"Hunter," I croaked. It was a bit painful to say his name. "I'm sorry for not saying it earlier. I really am. And now-well," A sob escaped me. "GOD DAMMIT I LOVE YOU! LOVE _YOU_! ONLY _YOU_ AND NO ONE ELSE!"

_Darling you know I'll love you_

I was breathing hard. Hunter didn't move. Not surprising.

I won't ever find anyone to replace you. No one else can.

Never. Ever.

_till the end of time_

I could swear Hunter appeared right in front of me and hugged me. I froze. I reached out to hug him back and he disappeared. My arms went right through him. _SHIT!_

_All of my memories keep you near_

_In silent moments imagine you'd be here_

I fell to my knees, blindly reaching for him. _He was right here..._

_All of my memories keep you near_

_Your silent whispers, silent tears_

I reached the bed and peeked at him. _Beep...beep..._

I caressed his cheek._ Hunter...My Hunter...I love you. You're my angel. My guardian, and because of I'm never cold, never alone. Thank you, my love._

_All of my memories... _

Thank you Hunter. I love you.

Forever and Always.

**Me: (hands reader a tissue) (sobs) So..so sad. But on to Part 2!**

**Chapter 23: Part 2: Out of Control**

Fang's POV

A sudden ripping feeling went through my heart. I looked down the hall. Shadow again. I looked at Max. She was staring of into space again. My stomach flipped as I remembered what Jeb said a week ago.

_**She might go into the same state of mind as Hunter.**_

Then a few days ago.

_**By the way things are going, don't be surprised if one day you can't wake her up.**_

Then there was Shadow. Two weeks ago, she was very hopeful. And she steadily sunk into her own hole of depression. I tried to ignore it. But how can you ignore the sobs? Especially since you want to mourn yourself?

Mourn. I say it like he's dead.

She thinks that sometimes, that he's dead, that the heart monitor is lying to her. So does Max. She says that Shadow and I will have to do the best we can with the Flock when she's gone. She had sunk into her hole of depression also. It's just not as noticable. The others stayed at Hunter's old apartment since Shadow's apartment became a hospital wing.

Another ripping feeling went through me. Ouch.

"Max?" I said. Her eyes were unfocused. Panic went through me. "Max?" She turned slowly towards me. A few days ago, she tried to fight it, by staying up, by bottling it up. Typical Max. Just to protect the younger members of the Flock. But now she can't deny it. The bags under her bloodshot brown eyes, the way her eyelids drooped and how she swayed slightly when she walked.

"Fang?" she asked. "Am I in a coma yet?" I winced.

"No," I answered. "I'm just going to check on-" another rip, so hard this time I almost gasped "Shadow."

"Sure. Go 'head." she said. I got up and left to the room. Shadow was in the corner, staring at the wall. _Another pair of blank eyes..._

"Shadow," I said. She didn't bother looking at me. "You have to _move_. Do you really think _he_ would want you like this?"

"No," she whispered. I stared at her. She sighed and finally got up.

"Change into new clothes," I said, turning to leave.

"Tell her," That made me whirl around. I could feel remorse coming from her. "Tell Max before it's too late." Her eyes were begging and filled with pain.

"What?" I asked dumbly. I knew what she was talking about. I just-

"Don't make the same mistake that I did," she said. "_Tell her."_

I swallowed and muttered darkly under my breath, "I'll try. Lets hope she doesn't run out this time."

"Let us hope," she said and we bumped fists.

Shadow's POV

After I gave my advice to Fang, I went through my closet and pulled out some random clothes.

Something dropped to the floor.

I froze then approached it. Then when I figured out it was a paper, I laughed at my stupidity and picked it up.

It was one of those black and white film strips that you get at those booth things at the mall. It had 6 pictures. Of me and Hunter when...actually, this was a few days before we were taken by the School.

One of them had me as still as a statue, a stoic expression on my face. Hunter had his arm around me, smiling.

The next one was reversed. This time, Hunter was the serious one and I was poking him.

The third one was me tickling him. Now, let me tell you, I've never met anyone as ticklish as him. Except Max, and they were equal in the tickle scale. Hunter had his head thrown back laughing and I had a smirk on my face.

The fourth one, we were making stupid faces at the camera. Except, well, I was shooting the bird at the camera while doing so.

The fifth one Hunter was glaring playfully at me and I was smiling innocently at the camera.

And the sixth one...

I let it drop to the ground and went into the bathroom. I changed out of my clothes and into blue, ripped up light blue jeans with a white skirt over it, a white shirt that said, Your Face is Fit For Radio, on it and and black Converse sneakers(not wearing the top on the outside of course. I don't wear the emo style, Ghost does with his stupid skinny jeans)

I looked at the sixth picture again. It featured Hunter kissing me on the cheek and my face had an embarrassed look. I turned it around and it said, in Hunter's writing:

**I'm always with you, even when I'm away.**

**Brian**

**P.S: Look in my drawer.**

A fresh wave of remorse flooded through me. I blocked my mind so Fang wouldn't know and peeked in to see what he was saying to Max.

"Well, um, I've been sitting on this for a while and-" I smiled and left his mind. They needed their private time.

Now for the drawer.

I went over and yanked it out with much more force than necessary. A collection of things slid forward. I cursed and pushed everything back to where it was. I looked in the drawer. Candy, some stuff, a handball, a collection of pens, pencils, and markers...a box.

An out of place, long velvet box. My hands were shaking as I took it out. It was a necklace box. _A necklace box..._

My hands still shaking, I opened the box. It was a necklace alright. _A very expensive necklace. _

It had a diamond heart studded silver chain for starters. And the jewel in the middle was a sapphire. Well, if I tried harder, I would describe it better. But since my mind just crashed, I'll get back to you on this whole, describing thing.

My breath was caught in my throat as I took the necklace out the box. A post-it fell out the box.

**Wish I could be here to see your face. But since your reaction would most likely be glaring at me for half a century for getting you such an expensive gift, I decided to give it to you like this. Hope you like it. And don't hurt me when I get back.**

**Brian**

Hunter. Hunter. Oh my God. _Hunter._

I went to his side. _Beep...Beep..._

"Oh God," I whispered. "You-I-love-...I...thank you." I managed to whisper. No response. I kneeled by his side and kissed his cheek.

I looked back at his face.

And the corners of twitched upward.

He was smiling.

I gasped and the necklace slid from my fingers. His nose twitched. _Oh please Oh please..._

**Shadow? What's wrong? **My brother asked. I smiled, a wide one and my first one in weeks. I ran out the room, where Max was already standing up.

"HE TWITCHED! HE'S ALIVE! OH THANK YOU! FINALLY!" I screamed. Max and Fang looked at me like belonged in a funny farm. I don't care.

I ran back into the room. Hunter still had a grin on his face and his fingers were twitching. _Oh thank you thank you THANK YOU._

"TELL JEB!" I hollered. I heard the front door open and shut. I was practically hyperventilating and calmed down. The door opened and shut again. I went next to Hunter and held his hand. It was warming up.

"Unhand him," I looked at the doorway and saw Annabell standing there with hands on her hips. Immediately, anger rushed through my veins, followed by adrenaline.

"Get out," I growled.

**Shadow?**

"Get away from him," she said.

"GET OUT!" I yelled. She continued to stand there, as if nothing was happening, as if I didn't just snarl and yell at her.

"Get away," she said.

**Shadow? Are you there?**

"Yeah Shadow," I shot up to my feet and whirled around. Omega. "Get away."

I threw a punch but he blocked it and shoved me backwards. I stumbled and hit the ground.

"You're weak," he said. I growled and jumped to my feet.

**Shadow?! What's wrong? Tell me right now...**

"She's always been weak," Annabell said. I whirled around, lunged at her,

And went right through her.

I crashed into the wall and I heard Annabell and Omega laugh. _Shit. Fuck man._

**SHADOW!**

I stood up. The door was locked. _Oh no, not now, NOT NOW!_

**SHADOW, ANSWER ME, WHAT'S GOING ON?!**

I banged against the door. "OPEN! OPEN GOD DAMMIT!" I heard them laughing, and I felt tears at the corners of my eyes. I could still hear him. _Beep...beep..._

**Shadow, one last time before I come into the apartment. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?**

"Heh, I'll wake him up," Annabell's voice filtered through the door. _beep...beep..._

"Be careful, we still need him," Omega replied. _Beep...beep..._

"I'll try," she said. I heard crunching. _Beep...beep..._

"Annabell be careful!" Omega hissed. _beep..beep..beep.._ I banged harder at the door.

"I'm trying!" she hissed back. _BEEP..BEEP..BEEP.._ I threw myself at the door now.

"ANNABELL!" Omega yelled. _BBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP_

"Oops," she said. My heart stopped. _Like his did..._

**WHAT!**

"You idiot," Omega muttered. _BBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP. _

I screamed. In horror. In terror.

He's dead. He's dead. HE'S DEAD.

"Oh shit," Omega said.

"Is there a banshee out there?" Annabell joked. Anger, so much...

I embraced the numb feeling and watched in cold satisfaction as I punched a hole through the door.

"OH FUCK! I'M OUT!" Omega yelled.

"YOU COWARD!" Annabell screamed.

I banged the door down and glared at Annabell who was near the vanity. I roared and lunged at her. _HE'S DEAD YOU BITCH! HE'S DEAD AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!_

I don't know how many times I punched her. I remembered getting bored of it and going to Hunter. I kissed him, his cold lips under mine and ran out.

Fang was coming in.

"What the-oh crap..." he said. I smiled and opened my mind up to him.

Then he turned just like me.

Max's POV

I heard the door slam and rolled my eyes. I didn't know what was going on, for once, at it was getting annoying. I walked out and saw Fang and Shadow about to go into the staircase, like everything was fine and dandy with the world.

"Guys? Hello?" They continued walking, ignoring me. "FANG! SHADOW! HELLO?!" They both turned around.

With matching looks of Cold Fury.

I gasped as they whirled back around, running down the stairs in a flash.

I ran to the staircase, but they were already gone. _Oh crap._

"Max!" Jeb yelled. I ran back into the house. "The heart monitor is flat!" I froze, then ran back into the house, panic eating at my heart. I saw blood on the floor as I ran down the hall. _What in the world?_

I skidded to a stop in front of Hunter and Shadow's room and ran in.

Hunter was sitting up on the bed. He looked at me with sad eyes, fingering an expensive looking necklace.

"What did I miss?"

**Me: Oh crap. Long chapter. Here's the website to few the necklace **

**http://a248.e. Hope the link works!**


	24. Cold Snap

**Me: I am totally in love with this fic right now. It's weird. And I'm spazzing, I don't know why...**

**Hunter: Nuts Psycho person, aka the author of this fanfic, doesn't own Maximum Ride. But she owns her OC's, so no stealing.**

**Me: Thanks to Nathaniel773, bibliocrazed, restart, Whatever95, aznjtgirl, maxride08, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, aviator301, Pyromaniac-Girl, Within My Grasp, S.L. Michaels, Jesus-Freak2142, meepisms, maxridefan95, FangWannabe, golden-clawed-angel, brebreisme, Irish Graffiti, maxridefanakakat, lilswickey101, steponme2, and Ilovecookies15.**

**Shadow: Never mind about the link, here's the instructions: go to google, go to images, then type in 1 carat blue sapphire and diamond heart studded necklace. It should be the first link.**

**Chapter 24: Cold Snap**

Max's POV

"Where. Would. He. Go?" I growled. I was _done_. If she doesn't tell me right now...

"I told you. I. Don't. Know." Annabell spat.

Yes, Hunter and I found Annabell, bloody, bruised, and totally guilty. She had been _trying_ to sneak out the house but her mad skills a.k.a. knocking down a lamp while trying to walk out as if she did nothing, landed her tied up in a chair with me and Hunter playing good cop, bad cop.

"One last time before I _rip_ your leg off and make you _eat_ it," I said, massaging the bridge of my nose. "Where would Omega go to hide?"

"And for the last time, I don't fucking know. Get it through your dumb blonde head." _Ooo...big mistake blondy..._

I laughed humorlessly. "So if I'm a dumb blonde than you are-"

"BOTH OF YOU!" Hunter yelled. I shut my mouth and could feel his anger and impatience. "Now, Annabell," he turned on the charm. "Please, tell us where Omega would go."

I blinked. I thought I was supposed to be the good cop.

"Well Hunty," she said making me cringe. "I _would_ tell _you_, but I can't cause I just don't know."

"Well," he said. I could feel the irritation. "Do you know anything that can help me?"

"Yes!" she said, her eyes sparkling, as if he asked her to marry him. "Omega has a new power!" I bit my lip. _Well, that's just great_.

"And what is it?" Hunter asked, still as cool as a cucumber.

"Ability to change his body's density," she said. "He can turn as solid as stone and become intangible." She said.

"That explains it..." Hunter mumbled.

"What?" I asked. He looked at me.

"I remember what happened when I hit the wall the second time. Omega was in the room and-"

"Impossible," I said, remembering it myself. Fang and I were in the living room and then Fang had just made a choking sound. I looked over and Omega had wrapped a telephone wire around Fang's neck, strangling him. I had launched myself at Omega, succeeding in getting the wire off of Fang's neck.

Omega threw me off of him and lunged at Fang again. He had grabbed the baseball bat that was hitched on the wall and hit Fang's arm _hard_ with it.

I winced, remembering the crack.

"Annabell," Hunter said, turning to her. He had obviously been remembering with me and then distorted scenes came at me.

Shadow was screaming at the wall. Hunter kneeled next to her. Her eyes were full of fear as she looked past him. He turned around.

Omega was standing there, cold, smug, and confident. Hunter shot up and Omega punched him down. Hunter lunged at Omega and passed right through him.

"Does Omega have doubling powers?" Hunter said, snapping me to the present.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"YO BRIAN-I MEAN HUNTER!" Chris yelled, running into the room. Annabell looked at her disdainfully. Chris sneered at her.

"Enough you two! Chris, what?" Hunter said.

"Fang and Shadow were spotted near an old warehouse. The one where we usually spend our Halloween at," she said. Hunter nodded and we exchanged a look.

"Lets go," he said.

* * *

"Wow...this is just...wow," I said.

"You like our haunted house?" Hunter asked. I shook my head.

"No. This is the warehouse me and Fang just escaped from," I said, anger coursing through me. "Why didn't I think of that earlier?!"

"You didn't think Omega would be an idiot and go to the same place twice," Hunter answered as we walked towards the warehouse.

"Well of course, not unless he wanted to die," I answered.

"I don't think he counted on Shadow staying in Cold Fury or Fang coming with her," He answered. I nodded and we stood in front of the doors.

"Ready," we both said at the same time, and we walked in.

It was still as dark and dank as always. Except for the always off putting blood smears across the wall. Then, I saw a pair of midnight wings and tensed.

Nothing.

I breathed out and took a step in.

Nothing.

Another step.

A growl emerged from the shadows and Fang crawled forward.

Yes, I said crawled.

He snarled at Hunter and bared his teeth. Oh, did I mention that because of Cold Fury, he lives up to his namesake? Yeah, nice fangs, Fang.

"Fang?" He backed up from me.

"Max," Hunter said from between clenched teeth. "Put your hand out slowly, so he can recognize your scent."

I slowly brought my arm up. A growl echoed through the room and Fang pounced on me.

I heard Hunter yelp in surprise. I slid across the room and stopped. Fang was on top of me, nuzzling into my neck. My stomach dropped.

**Be careful Max, be very careful...I almost killed Shadow the last time something like that happened to me.**

_YOU DID THIS TO SHADOW!? WHEN?_

**First off, ouch, that hurts.**

_What?_

**You just shouted in my head. **

S_orry._

**Secondly yes, I did do to Shadow what Fang's doing to you. It was when you were kidnapped by Omega and Annabell.**

_Oh._

Fang's lips went over mine and the next thing I knew he was kissing me ferociously on the lips.

_Oh fucking CRAP! OH SHIT!_

**Calm down Max.**

_YOU CALM DOWN!_

**Max...** At that second, Fang pressed his body against mine, making my back ache. I forgot how _strong_ someone can get in Cold Fury.

**Max, if you kiss him back, I think he'll go back to good ol' emotionless, not as vicious Fang. **I blinked and shut my eyes.

_Are you enjoying the porn? Is that why you're asking me to kiss him back?_

**MAX!**

_Ouch Hunter. That hu-OW! _At that second, Fang's nails dug into my flesh.

**KISS HIM BACK GOD DAMMIT!** I winced. _Alright, here goes nothing..._

I started to kiss him hesitantly at first. His lips moved hungrily over mine, and I couldn't help but move my own lips faster.

**You know...telling you to kiss him, doesn't mean to get all into it. **I ignored him and continued kissing Fang. I noticed that his lips were slowing down...then...they stopped. I kissed him, testing him.

"Max?" His mouth moved against mine.

"Yes?" I said. The pressure on my body came off immediately. I opened my eyes and stared at the dark ceiling. Well, who said life can never be too complicated? _Note to self: Beat the living crap out of whoever said that quote._

"I'm sorry Max, so sorry, I really am," Fang said from somewhere in the darkness. I could hear the sincerity and guilt in his voice.

"Fang? Do you know where Shadow is?" Hunter said. I looked around and felt him grab my wrist. He helped me to my feet.

"Hunter?" Fang asked through the darkness.

"Yeah, he's fine now, um where are you Fang?" I said, feeling blind in the darkness. I felt something soft and hit it.

"Max? Can you stop patting my head," Fang said. _Oh shoot..._

"Oh," I said, embarrassed. What was wrong with me? "Sorry." I grabbed Fang's wrist and helped him stand up.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, noting how stiff he was when I helped him up.

"Oh nothing. Just that my muscles are stiff," he said. Hunter cleared his throat. I felt his discomfort but I didn't know why he felt that way.

"Where's Shadow?" Hunter repeated. That's when Fang stiffened.

"Shadow...wait a sec," he said. I looked him. Or did my best.

"Roof...she's on the roof..." Fang said. "She's blocking her thoughts, but her location is the roof."

"Okay," Hunter walked towards the door. Fang and I exchanged a look and followed. Once outside Hunter unleashed the gold wings from his back and did an immediate takeoff. I followed closely behind.

I couldn't help thinking of a few hours before. Fang was going to tell me _something_, but then Shadow ran out the room, screaming like a crazy person. I sighed. Fang and I needed to sort things out, fast and soon.

We landed on the roof and saw Omega staggering to his feet. A throaty laughter emerged from behind the door. Omega looked in that direction in fear. All of a sudden, something was streaking towards him. Omega jumped in the air and tried to flap off. But Cold Fury Shadow tore him out of the air, slamming him into the concrete. I heard a few bones snap and winced.

"She won't listen to me!" Fang said next to me, the exasperation apparent in his tone.

"Let me try," Hunter said, his voice quiet. I stared at him as he walked forward slowly. Cold Fury Shadow snarled, but didn't look at him. She was too busy hovering over Omega, and, in her own way, _playing with him._ Like a hawk with a little baby mouse. I shuddered at the comparison as Shadow continued to circle Omega, on her hands and knees.

Hunter continued to walk forward and this time she growled. But Hunter continued.

"Shadow?" he said softly. Her head snapped up to look at him. Her silver eyes widened and she fell back, onto her butt.

"Shadow?" He walked towards her and kneeled next to her. Her eyes were locked onto his. Then, her shaking hand lifted and touched his cheek. He leaned onto it and covered her hand with his own. I saw her lower lip trembling and she bit it.

"I'm back Shadow...aren't you happy?" He said, his voice still soft. All looks of Cold Fury drained off her face, but she kept an indifferent face on, as if this could all be a lie.

"Hunter? Is that really you?" she asked, her voice a bit raspy. He nodded. Her emotionless mask collapsed and she launched herself at him. Her arms were wrapped around him and she was sobbing. He rubbed her back, in between her wings.

"It's okay," he said.

"I'm such a freaking softie," she said, from in between sobs. Fang grinned a bit and I had just noticed that we were holding hands. _Oh.._

_Lets get these teen hearts beating faster faster_

_Lets get these teen hearts beating faster _

**Me: Sorry, but I couldn't resist putting the last two lines there. I don't own those either. They belong to Panic! At The Disco's song, Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off.** **Wow...long title. I'm going to make those teen hearts beat faster(insert evil laugh here) Anyways, review! For more Fax and Shanter!**


	25. Where do we Stand?

**Me: Yay! The next chapter is the end of _Fester_ or Part 2! The chapter after the next chapter is the beginning of Part 3! Everyone cheer! Oh and a really weird thing happened to me, involving this story and my field trip...if you want to know, tell me in your review.**

**Shadow: You gave the parts names?**

**Me: Yeah. It's _Clue _first. Then _Fester._ Then the last one's my favorite. It's called _Fidelity._**

**Hunter:Yeah, she doesn't own Maximum Ride. She owns us. Don't steal us. **

**Shadow: Thanks to Within My Grasp, Nathaniel773, aviator301, Irish Graffiti, golden-clawed-angel, meepisms, NorahJones, me, FantasyFan5, FangWannabe, Pyromaniac-Girl, ilovetwilight99, nightingale07, brebreisme, Jesus-Freak2142, Frances, Ilovecookies15, S.L. Michaels, bibliocrazed, lilswickey101, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, and Stephanie for reviewing.**

**Chapter 25:Where Do We Stand?**

Max's POV

Shadow got up and dusted herself off. She looked at Hunter and held out her hand. He grabbed it and she helped him up.

"I...will...not...fail," I heard someone growl. I looked in that direction and saw Omega standing up, his eyes wild. Hunter growled and Shadow's eyes narrowed.

Then Omega lunged. Hunter went to intercept, but Shadow yanked him back. Omega hit the ground.

"Lets go!" I ordered, before Omega got up again. Immediately, we were in the sky and heading back.

Iggy's POV

"They should be fine," I said. Her footsteps ceased. _Finally_, she stopped pacing.

"But Iggy," she said. "Hunter just got out of a coma. Max was almost in the same state as him. How will they be up and ready to fight two people in Cold Fury?" I sighed. She was getting _me_ tense.

"They're not going to fight them," I said. "Max and Hunter are going to _reason_ with them."

"Oh."

"Ella," I said. "They'll be fine. Trust me. Do you remember that we're talking about Max and Fang here? And don't forget about Hunter and Shadow," I reminded her. I heard her breathe out and sit next to me.

We were in the living room guarding Annabell for the time being. I could hear the captured girl's breathing.

"I hope Omega gets ripped to pieces!" she screeched. Ella jumped a bit next to me.

"Well, that's nice to know," I said, running my hand through my hair.

"Shut UP, oh great blind one," she said. I bristled.

"Why don't you, you bad excuse for a Barbie doll," Ella snapped.

"Listen you _human_," Annabell snapped. "I can snap your bones in _half_. So watch how you talk to me."

"I'd be surprise if you could even smack a fly," Ella hissed. I blinked. She's fierce.

"Oh you little bi-"

"Watch your language," I said, wagging my finger in her face. "You're personality is ugly enough."

"You wouldn't know ugly if it smacked you in the face," she hissed.

"Well, I dunno. You haven't smacked me yet." I retorted. Annabell howled and she struggled in her seat.

"YOU don't know UGLY! HERE you are, flirting with a FUGLY, measly, HUMAN," Annabell yelled. Ella gasped and my anger flared. How dare she...

"AND here YOU are!" I yelled losing my temper. "YOU are the one that caught! Left ABANDONED! By your own! You tried to kill someone. You tried to break up a relationship! If anyone is ugly, it's YOU Annabell! And I don't need eyes to see that!"

The room lapsed into silence.

I felt Ella grab my arm and she dragged me out the room.

"What was that all about?" she asked. Her hand was still in mind and I felt the sweat. She was nervous, I could tell.

"It's the truth, you know. And you're not fugly. I don't need eyes to see that," I said. I heard a slight movement.

"Um...Iggy," she said, her voice quivering a bit. I wished I could see her. Anger flared through me. _I want to SEE._

"Yes Ella?" I said.

"Am I...forget it." She let go of my hand and walked off. I blinked, feeling rejected. Does she...or doesn't she? Damn it! _Now_ I know how Fang feels. Max's family needs to learn how to send better signals of what they want.

"IGGY!" her shrill cry snapped me out of my thoughts. I ran in the direction of her voice.

"ELLA?" I yelled.

"I'm fine," she said. I looked in her direction and she put her hand in mine. It was shaking. I heard my own breathing and Ella's but someone was missing...

"Where's Annabell?" I asked.

"She's gone," Ella said.

Crap.

Shadow's POV

We finally reached the building. Max and Fang went into my old apartment while I steered Hunter into his old apartment. He held my hand as we went into his room.

Hunter's room had been converted to our own music joint. Our "parents" let us do this and made us choose an instrument. Hunter had chosen piano while I chose a regular guitar. We both play each other's instruments sometimes. It was funny when he first picked up my lefty guitar. But he learned how to play that way. Unfortunately, I don't have his knack for instruments. I suck total butt when it comes to piano.

Our instruments rested in the corners of the room, the piano on the far right and the guitar on it's stand on the far left. I went over to my guitar and dusted it off. I looked back and saw that Hunter had shut the door and locked it behind him. He was at the stereo now, picking up one of the CD's scattered there.

I went over to the writing desk and looked at what was written. I recognized my script like handwriting and Hunter's plain print.

**You and I **_(With one another)_

**Together forever **_(Till the end of time)_

**Friends you and I **_(Where do w_

I hadn't got to finish what I was writing. But I have an idea of what I was going to write. I picked up the pencil.

**You and I **_(With one another)_

**Together forever **_(Till the end of time)_

**Friends you and I **_(Where do w**e really stand?)**_

_**Are we something more?**_

_**Will I wake, with you not there?**_

_**Where do we go from here?**_

Hunter took the pen from me.

"Hey!" I protested.

"But I have a name for the song now," Hunter said. He wrote it and passed it to me. **The Hunter and his Shadow.** I smirked.

"Very creative Hunter," I said. He stuck his tongue out at me and I laughed. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the vanity.

Silver eyes stared back at me as I scanned myself. My hair was tangled, the bags under my eyes revealed my sleepless nights. My skirt was torn and the kneecaps of my pants were holes now, but the skin revealed was fine thanks to my advanced healing rates associated with being in Cold Fury. I looked at Hunter who had his arm loosely around my shoulders.

His hair was a mess, his clothes were wrinkled, but he looked flawless. His reflection moved his head to one side and he hit my shoulder lightly.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine," I answered.

"Good," he said. He stepped behind me and I immediately felt nervous.

"What are you doing?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

"Wait a sec," he dug in his pocket and out came the necklace. My face softened.

"Oh Hunter," I said. He grinned and spread the necklace in front of his face.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" he said. All I could do was nod. His grin grew wider as he put the necklace on my neck, fastening it. It looked really beautiful. He rested his head on my shoulder and I smiled, putting my hand on the necklace that was resting on my neck.

"Yes, it is," I whispered. He nuzzled into my neck and I sighed, enjoying the moment.

This must be what bliss is.

I looked at the mirror and saw that I still had a smile. That I was happy. _Happy._

I looked at Hunter who's face was contorted. Which brought down my good mood meter.

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning so I could see his face and not it's reflection. His gold eyes met my own.

"Well...I was thinking..." he trailed off and his face flushed. "Iwasthinkingaboutkissingyou." he said it so fast I barely caught it.

"So then do it," I said. He blinked in surprise and I almost rolled my eyes. He can be so old fashioned sometimes. He turned me to face him and butterflies erupted in my stomach. He leaned in closer then growled.

"What?"

"Well...I don't want it to be like this," he said straightening up and staring at me straight in the eyes. "I want it to be special. Like I didn't wake up from a coma-" I winced. "-an hour or so ago and I didn't just stop you from killing someone." I looked down, clenching my fists. I wasn't going to do it, since he seemed to be the one to want to do it. But doesn't he know? Things _never_ go right with us.

"But it's almost always going to be like this. Always on the run, always in danger. Always in some stupid DRAMA!" I yelled the last word and banged my fist on the table. Hunter came behind me and rubbed my shoulders.

"But I want to wait," he whispered in my ear, his voice almost _seductive._ I bit my lip. "Wait until Max or Fang lets us just go out. And we can catch a movie or something. Then afterward-it'll be so _perfect_, so _normal_! It'll be what _you_ deserve."

I chuckled dryly. "I hate to break it to you Hunter, but I'm not exactly normal. Just move your hands a little tiny bit lower and you'll find out." He scowled and his fingers ran over the tip of my wing.

"We're both not normal. No one's normal. There's no such thing as normal," he muttered. I snickered. Then a wave of emotions crashed into me, making me gasp. The most prominent one being..._love._

"Whoa...what the heck was that?" I looked at Hunter who was gripping the table, his knuckles were white.

"I-I dunno," I said. Then it came back, this time stronger. I blocked it from me so I wouldn't gasp like an idiot again. I blinked and looked at Hunter. In the next second, strong arms wrapped around my waist and his lips pressed against mine. My eyes widened. _Oh crap, I thought there would be __**some**__ sort of warning..._

But before I could react he jolted back and groaned. I blinked. What the hell-

"Was that?" was all I managed to get out.

"I-I'm sorry. It-It's just that-that wave made me and DAMMIT! You're right! Nothing can go RIGHT! AND-AND-" He put his hand to his head and I ran over to his side, my heart almost stopping.

"Pl-please don't." I gulped and my hands were shaking. "Don't stress yourself. Just-" The flame of passion went through me again and I grabbed my heart. I could feel myself wanting to black out from all of the emotions attacking me at once but forced myself to stay with the light. To stay with Hunter.

I stood up straight and balanced Hunter with me.

"I'm fine," he said. "You're the one-OH GOSH, DAMMIT!" I winced and he did the most embarrassing thing he could ever do to me.

He picked me up, bridal style, and carried me.

"HEY! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN NOW!" I protested. He shook his head and left the apartment.

"Put me down before we get into the house," I growled. Hunter opened the door to the apartment and marched inside. No one was in the living room, but my bedroom door was open.

"Hunter," I warned. He walked into the room.

My mouth fell open.

Hunter went into complete shock and he dropped me. I hit the floor, but that didn't matter at the second.

Because Fang and Max were making out, right in front of us.

**Me: AH! Evil cliffie! He he...anyways, review:)**


	26. Jeb's Hypothesis

**Me: TREAT FOR JOO ALL! Since you guys gave me a record number of reviews for the last chapter, I'm going to give you a wee little peek into _Fidelity._ So nice, aren't I?**

**Shadow: Yeah sure...anyways, she doesn't own Maximum Ride, she owns us, so no stealing.**

**Hunter: Thanks to meepisms, aznjtgirl, killingthepast, golden-clawed-angel, steponme2, Nathaniel773, maxride08, maximumride24, victorianvamp105, maxridefan95, Jessica, SilverScreech, restart, bibliocrazed, evilcarrotofdoom, MY, lilswickey101, LOL-ninjas-stole-my-homework, lion fell in luv with the lamb, Frances, brebreisme, aviator301, Frances, S.L. Michaels, FangWannabe, and nightingale07 for reviewing. **

**Me: Oh and for the field trip, summed up into two words: Crazy Fangirls. Now on with the chap. **

**Chapter 26: Jeb's Hypothesis**

Fang's POV

(Few minutes before Fax)

"WHAT?!" Max shrieked. I winced. No one can shriek like Max can when she's angry. Iggy and Ella winced also.

"Annabell got away," Iggy repeated. Max looked like she was going to blow a fuse, so I stepped in.

"Iggy, Ella, go get the rest of the Flock, Jeb, Dr. Martinez, and the other humans out of the hiding place. Max, come with me," I said. I grabbed Max's wrist and dragged her into Shadow and Hunter's room, not bothering to shut the door behind me.

"Calm down Max. You're going to blow a blood vessel," Max massaged the bridge of her nose furiously. I went behind her and rubbed her shoulders. I felt her muscles relax under my fingertips.

"That's good Max. Very good," I whispered. I felt her muscles jump up again, and relax.

"Um...Fang...why-no forget it," she said. I stopped massaging her shoulders.

"What is it Max?"

"Well...if I ask, will you not get mad?"

"Sure." I said, curious on what she wanted to ask.

"Okay. Why are you acting like this?" She asked, looking back. Her brown eyes were full of curiosity.

"Um...like what?" I asked dumbly.

"Well...you are..._showing _how you feel. Why?" Max asked, looking sheepish. I blinked. Oh. So that's what she meant.

"Well, what if I'm tired of waiting? What if I just want to grab life by the wings?" I said. Max looked blankly at me. _Tell her._ Shadow's voice rung in my head. _Tell her...TELL HER._

"Max," I said, my voice dry. "Max...I-I like you," I said, embarrassingly stumbling over my words. "I really like you, and um-" Max put her hand on my shoulder. Uh-oh...no good...

"So you're saying," Max said slowly, making me wince. "That you..._like_ me in _that_ way?" I nodded. She stared at me blankly and slowly sat on Hunter's former coma bed. "Wow."

I swallowed. This was so not good. I _knew _she didn't like me that way. I just _knew_ it. "So, I guess you don't like me in _that_ way."

Max looked up at me. "Fang, I'm not sure _what_ I feel about you." My heart skipped a beat. "I really don't know."

"So...um, you don't know how to feel about me?"

"Yes."

"So are you rejecting me?" I said, sounding more hurt than I had wanted to show. I couldn't hide it. _Dammit...she doesn't like me._

"No," Max said. I looked at her and her expression was truthful. So, she wasn't doing it to spare my feelings. Maybe there was a shred of hope after all...

"So, where do we go from here?" I asked. She blinked.

"I dunno...maybe just maybe we can try it out." I swear, my heart almost stopped.

"Wait-what?"

"We can give _us_ a try, just to see how _we_ work out," Max said, stressing each word out. I couldn't help it. I swept her into my arms and kissed her.

Shadow's POV

Fang and Max jumped apart at the noise that was made of me hitting the floor. Immediately, Max flushed a tomato color. We stared at one another for, what seemed like hours, but what must've been a few minutes.

"So um...one of those don't ask things, right?" Hunter said. Max and Fang nodded simultaneously. I snickered and picked myself up from the floor, brushing myself off.

"Oh um," Hunter piped up. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I said. I looked back at my brother.

_Max and Fang, in their sibling's room, K-I-S-S-_

**SHUT UP!**

"OW!" I said aloud, massaging my temples. Fang sent me a death glare. Oh well. I was merely stating a fact.

"Guys," I heard Ella say. I left the room and Hunter was behind me. Ghost, Cass, Lie and Chris froze in the hallway. Maybe the sight of hunter conscious and me without tears in my eyes did that to them. Just a wild guess.

"So," Ghost said. "No one's in a coma or dying or anything?" I couldn't help but grin.

"Nope," Hunter said. "Everything is fine."

At the next moment, we, as in Hunter and I, were glomped by 4 humans.

"Oh my gosh! Sky! Brian! You're back!" Chris squealed near my ear.

"Wings," Hunter managed to get out.

"Oh, sorry," Cass said. They each got off of us and we stood up from the ground. The stared at us and smiles spread across their faces. All of them started talking at once, but Jeb held up his hand, silencing everyone.

"Alright, everyone in the living room, there are some serious matters that need to be addressed," Jeb said. I exchanged a look with Hunter as we all went into the living room. Everyone sat in various places.

"Okay settle down, settle down." Jeb said in a calming voice. Everyone relaxed in their seats. "Is everyone alright?" He looked pointedly at Hunter. There was scattered responses of 'alright' and 'okay'. "Good," he continued. "Because this is important. Listen.

"First off, Valencia and I-" he gestured to Dr. Martinez, then to himself. "Have been discussing Cold Fury." I was immediately absorbed. "We already know some of the effects of Cold Fury, but I think we never really figured out what it is or it's purpose. But I think we've got a pretty decent idea." Jeb looked at Dr. Martinez to continue.

"Cold Fury is the animal deep inside you." I saw Hunter's eyes widen as he put the pieces together. "When you are going through extreme stress or something important to you is in danger, your predatory side of you takes over. This is from the bird DNA that's inside you. It is there to protect you, it's host, until the day you die." Max raised her hand and Dr. Martinez smiled. "Yes Max?"

"Why didn't we get Cold Fury before?" she asked.

"We don't know Max," Jeb answered. "We're still figuring that out." He turned to Dr. Martinez. "Please continue."

"Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, Angel, you all have Cold Fury. It lies dormant inside you, waiting for the right time to come out." The younger members of the Flock and Iggy looked a bit shocked. "Shadow, Fang, I have some idea why you two went into Cold Fury." I locked onto Dr. Martinez's face.

"You two have a bit more bird DNA inside you than the others." My eyes widened and I almost fell out of my chair.

"What?" Fang asked, his voice calm. But anger was his number one emotion right now. I knew that for a fact. Dr. Martinez gave us a look that read 'sorry'.

"It isn't so much that you're extremely different from the others, but it's enough to, one day, be able to take over." I sat still as a statue in my chair. I felt like I couldn't breathe. "The other's may be able, with practice, control Cold Fury. With you two, it'll take more of an effort." I gritted my teeth. _Well, even when I'm different, I'm DIFFERENT._

**At least we're both differently the same.**

_Wow, that was clever._

"Shadow," Hunter said softly. I looked at him. His golden eyes were leaking with concern. "You okay?" I nodded.

"Cold Fury might also interfere with your special ability." Jeb said calmly. I almost fell out of my chair again.

"What?!" Max exclaimed.

"We have a special ability?!" I said, confused and excited at the same time. Oh crap, what is it, what is it, WHAT THE HELL IS IT?!

"Shadow and Fang's special ability is the ability to make and control illusions." Wait...huh?!

"How do you know?" Fang asked.

"Well, I've done some research and found out a lot all of your genetic makeups. It was originally a search for answers about Cold Fury. Nudge had found the extra stuff on Fang and Shadow by coincidence." He looked at Nudge, who smirked at the shocked expressions of Cass, Lies, Chris, and Ghost.

"But how can the School know?" I asked. Jeb looked at me and Fang.

"They don't. They know that they each did identical surgeries on your brain when you were younger. It was on the sector of your brain that specializes with your social skills. It's purpose was to try an block your emotions, like what was done to Omega," I swallowed. "The Director stopped the surgery in the middle for reasons unknown. They left you two like that." I exchanged a look with Fang. "It may have different effects than those expected."

"So...you're guessing that the effects are the illusion powers?" Hunter said slowly.

"No, I _know_ that those are the effects," Jeb said. "Remember how Omega, according to Max attacked Fang. Omega also, according to Hunter, attacked Shadow. Omega has intangibility powers, not doubling. Your illusions can get a life of it's own and, according to your mind, and take on the characteristics of the object you made."

"Thus making two murderous Omegas," Ghost said. Jeb nodded.

"It seems like you two are going to have a hard time, from your developing powers to Cold Fury and that's why Valencia and I want to suggest something," Jeb and Dr. Martinez exchanged a look and he continued. "My hypothesis is, if you are put under non-stressful situations then Cold Fury will not be a problem. It has no reason to come out if their host is not in danger." Dr. Martinez took over.

"We're suggesting...well, will you go to a regular public school, attend, and just relax there? Will you start a normal life?" Her eyes leaked with sincerity.

"What?!" Max exploded, making all the humans in the room wince.

"You don't have to do it," Jeb said quickly. "We're just suggesting it because you don't have to save the world anymore and maybe it'll help you relax."

"Guys, Flock meeting," Max said. We all went into the hallway.

"Aw, Max, can't we do it?" Angel asked, her big blue eyes begging.

"Yeah, Max. I loved going to school. And all of my friends, they were awesome and oh! Homework is bad, but birthday parties are cool, and some of the teachers at our old school were cool too. But then again, some of them were evil also. Which of our teachers in our old school were evil Max? Because you know-" Max held up her hand.

"I know some of you guys are very eager to go to school, but whatever everyone thinks is important, so lets have a vote," she said. I nodded and the rest of the Flock did also. "Everyone in favor of going to a regular school, raise your hand."

Angel raised her hand with Total, followed by Nudge.

"As long as we don't have a children-hating principal again, I'm in," Iggy said, raising his hand.

"I'm with Ig," Gazzy said, raising his hand. Hunter raised his hand.

"I'm in," he said. I exchanged a look with Fang. I had a _really_ bad feeling about this. I mean _really_ bad. Didn't Jeb say that me and Fang had more bird genes than normal? And aren't animals in tune with nature and such like that?

"Well, I want to settle down. So I vote yes," Max said, raising her arm. Fang and I looked at one another.

"No," we both said at the exact same time. The whole Flock looked at us in surprise, making me feel uncomfortable.

"But why? We can have a home and a bed to sleep on and, and-" Fang held up his hand, cutting Nudge off.

"Me and Shadow don't have good feelings about this," he said.

"Well...sorry, but you're outvoted," Max said, without much feeling of sorriness. "Now lets tell Jeb." The Flock went into the living room. Fang and I exchanged one final look and followed them into the living room.

Fin to _Fester_

_We didn't know then what we know now._

_If we did, we would've been able to stop it._

_It wouldn't have happened._

_Stay tuned...the ride has just started._

_** -Max and Hunter**_

**Me: And here's your preview for _Fidelity._**

**Preview for_ Fidelity:_**

The girl stood in the doorway. Five feet eight inches tall, dark eyes, long black straight hair. Her arms were crossed and she held a casual stance, leaning against the doorway. Her black ensemble made her look all the more intimidating. She sighed and her eyes flickered to her brother.

He was her fraternal twin. A reflection of her, in a way. Taller though, surpassing six feet. His skin tone matched hers, an olive color. His dark eyes met the girl's own and he sighed also, sounding more tired than a boy his age should. He held back a yawn and stretched, flexing the extra muscles on his back, he had been holding back his wings tighter than he should've.

The boy cocked his head to one side and nodded. They both exited out the room and the girl flopped onto a sofa. The boy passed her a remote and she accepted. The siblings were in tune with each other, they didn't need loud things called words, and speaking to know what the other was thinking.

A phone rang, disturbing the silence. The twins exchanged a look and the boy picked up the phone.

"Hello?! Please, is this you-" The boy put the phone back onto the receiver. The sister shot him a sympathizing look but he ignored it. The voice had reopened the wound in his heart. The girl spoke then:

"I understand," she said. Her voice was low, sad, and mournful sounding. As if in the past few weeks, she had seen too much to still be sane. The boy, his voice a few tones deeper than hers answered:

"Yeah...I know..." he trailed off. The girl's eyes saddened then angered.

"Don't shut me OUT." The boy gritted his teeth and relaxed.

"It's for your good. And anyways, I'm not the one-"

"I don't care," she said through gritted teeth. "Don't DO that." He relented and she relaxed. He sat next to her and they stared at the television, not really watching the humans interact with each other. They were in each others heads really, comforted by the others presence. It was for their sanity that they did so. Less than half a year with each other and now one hung onto the other and vise versa. They seemed to complete each other, and they seemed to be satisfied.

But really, they were both broken beyond repair.

**Me: Now, review:) **


	27. Nightmares

**Me: Happy Halloween everyone! And I don't own Maximum Ride. But I own my characters, fair enough?**

**Shadow: Thanks to maximumride24, SilverScreech, meepisms, brebreisme, NorahJones, aviator301, Nathaniel773, bibliocrazed, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, steponme2, lion fell in luv with the lamb, Jesus-Freak2142, Irish Graffiti, S.L. Michaels, golden-clawed-angel, aznjtgirl, ilovetwilight99, Pyromaniac-Girl, alamodie, sharp fang, and LOL-ninjas-stole-my-homework. **

**Hunter: Here's _Fidelity_ people. The most evil crap that can be ever done, straight out of our author's demented mind. Now, on with the chap.**

**Chapter 27: Nightmares**

Omega's POV

"Why do you two never cease to fail me? WHY?! I gave you one. Simple. Mission. Get the new recombinants. Destroy the Flock by brainwashing the new recombinants. Two extremely simple tasks. And you FAILED. Do you know how valuable they are because of Inhumane-" My Mistress was on another rant._ Another one_.

I tuned her out and glared at Annabell. It was all HER fault. Shadow would've never went into Inhuman Savagery if she hadn't pulled off the heart beat monitor.

"You are a disgrace!" Mistress screamed at Annabell. _Damn straight. _"And _you..._" My Mistress said, turning to me. _And now is the time to announce..._

"I have a plan," I said, in a bored tone. Mistress narrowed her eyes.

"Humor me," she growled.

_A week later..._

Hunter's POV

The fact that I was in a field was the first thing that my brain registered. The second was that everything was bright and warm. The third was that I was shirtless, barefoot, and wearing a pair of jeans.

_Note to self: Give inner mind a talk Re: Less creepy dreams._

There was a movement ahead of me and I locked onto it. A head of black hair appeared in my line of vision. The person-a female-started walking away from me. She was wearing a yellow sundress and was barefoot, like me.

My heart sped up. Was that Shadow?

I walked toward her and called out to her. No answer, for some odd reason.

"Shadow!" I called again. She kept walking. I breathed out angrily. I hated it when people ignored me. I ran behind her and grabbed her shoulder.

"SHADOW!"

She turned around and my stomach dropped.

That definitely wasn't Shadow.

"So that's where you were darling. I was worried," Annabell cooed. I jumped back from her as she continued:

"You don't like my hair, do you?" Don't worry hon, I'm dyeing it back."

I started to back away slowly. Oh crap...oh fu-

"Annabell!" A voice called. She looked over me, smiled, and waved. I turned around to see what she was seeing.

Omega strolled over and he was basically wearing what I was. He was holding something...was it a-Oh my God...

Shadow was being lead by Omega, with a collar on her neck, with a _leash._ And she was on her hands and knees. _Crawling._

"You like my pet? She's very precious," Omega said, petting Shadow's head. I noticed that her eyes were blank and that they were the regular, human, dark color. And she was wearing _rags._ That is IT. Omega is DONE FOR.

Annabell's hand flew to mine and I yanked it back. I was not in the mood to deal with her.

"Nu-uh," she said. She snapped her fingers and Omega kicked Shadow _hard_ in the ribs. She fell backwards and whimpered. I was going to launch at myself at Omega when...

"Your fault," I blinked. Shadow's mouth hadn't moved and yet her voice echoed through my mind. Not to mention that what was just said wasn't how she usually speaks. I looked in the voices direction.

Shadow was glaring at me. She was in her regular black ensemble and her arms were crossed. And her eyes...pure silver.

"Y-You-rrr fault," she slurred. Cold Fury Shadow went on her hands and knees and crawled towards us. Me, more specifically. I backed away.

"You...DIE!" she screamed and launched herself at me.

_**CMS**_

"Wake up!" I jackknifed into sitting position, gasping for air. Oh man...I _hate_ my dreams.

"You okay?" I almost fell out of my bed. Shadow was standing at the side of my bed. Her face was powdered and her lips colored black. Wearing a corset and a dress. What was the occasion that she was wearing a corset? Wait...today was...Halloween...oh.

"Bad dream," I said. Shadow nodded and flashed vampire fangs at me.

"Hurry up. Dr. Martinez is starting breakfast. And then, joy, we go to school!" Shadow said with mock enthusiasm. I threw a pillow at her as she danced at the room. It didn't hit her, thanks to my non-aim in the morning. I heard her chuckle as she closed the door behind her. I shook my head as I grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt. And for Shadow's sake, I grabbed the cape that she bought for me yesterday.

Jeb had managed to get a house in upstate New York with a room for each of us, a bathroom for each of us, and a lot of land for us to fly around. Do I really want to know how he got this? No.

I looked around my room. It was well furnished and the walls were blue. I fixed my hair so it wouldn't look like a haystack and fastened my cape. There, I officially look like an idiot. Oh well. It's for my girlfri-

Anyways, I made sure I was decent and went downstairs. My bedroom was on the third floor, along with Fang, Max and Shadow. The rest of the Flock was on the second floor, while the humans were on the first floor. It was a pretty big house.

I walked into the kitchen. Fang, also looking like a vampire, gestured towards an empty seat that he had left between him and his sister. I shot him a grateful smile and sat down. Jeb shot me a look.

_**About time you came down.**_ I winced. I wasn't quite used to the Voice yet.

_Sorry Dad, _I said in my mind.

Jeb cleared his throat loudly and everyone went quiet. "Good morning everyone. How's school going for those who are enrolled? Max, Lucas, James, Matthew, Michelle, how's school?" he said.

"Good," I muttered. He had called us by our school names. Max retained her name, of course. I was Lucas now. Iggy was James. Matthew was Gasman and Michelle was Angel.

"Today is Shadow, Fang, Ella, and Nudge's first day of school. They are not related or known to you in any way, shape, or form so act foreign to one another, okay?" Jeb continued. We all nodded.

"Alexander, Isabella, Ella, and Krystal," Jeb said, addressing Fang, Shadow, Ella, and Nudge. "Today is your first day. Try not to stick out to much. Alexander, Isabella, and Ella are Valencia's children. Krystal is Valencia's niece, got that?"

They nodded.

"Fine Jeb, I'll go all anti-me on their asses," I heard Shadow mutter.

* * *

Shadow's POV

"Class!" the English teacher chirped. I rolled my eyes at her morning person-ness. It was obnoxious at this hour of the morning. "We have two new students today!" I scanned the seats and saw Max, Hunter and Iggy in the back row. Good, that's where I like to sit.

"Meet Alexander and Isabella Martinez. They're twins too, just like Maxine and-"

"It's Max," our irritable Leader called from the back row. I snickered at the teacher's annoyed expression.

"Ah, yes. Max. Anyways, Isabella and Alexander, can you please sit in the back. They're no other seats available," she said. "I'm Miss. Packer, welcome to High School."

I tried not to make eye contact with the other students as I made my way to the back row. Eye contact is giving permission for conversation. That's the last thing on my non-existent agenda.

I sat in the desk with a irritated huff. There's no lefty desks in these darn schools.

"Now," the teacher said. "In the Odyssey, Odysseus-" I tuned her out. I really didn't care about Odysseus. He seemed full of himself, every single damn place, it's him saying, 'And I did this noble act, cause, you know, I'm the best damn thing since fire was first brought along by Prometheus.'

"Hey," I heard someone say. I locked onto the person. He sat in front of me and had pale skin, dark blue eyes, and light brown hair.

"Nice costume," he said. I nodded.

"I'm Aaron," he said, holding out his hand. I stared at it. He snickered.

"Not a socialite, are you," he said.

"Aaron!" the teacher called. He reluctantly turned towards the front.

"One is one of the themes of the Odyssey?" Miss. Packer asked.

"Loyalty," Aaron answered.

"Correct," the teacher turned back to the board.

**What class do you have next?** Fang said in my head. I looked at my schedule.

_Um...okay. Next I have Chemistry, then Global History, Lunch, Math, Gym, Spanish, Chorus, and last, Seminar. You?_

**I have Spanish next, then Global History, Lunch, Gym, Math, Biology, Instrumental Music, then Seminar.**

_Lucky, you have Instrumental Music...how about the others. I know Hunter has this class-_

**Obviously.**

_Shut up. Anyways, then he has Chemistry, Global History, Lunch, Math, Gym, French, Instrumental Music, and Seminar._

**Of course you know **_**his**_** schedule.**

_Fu-_

**Max has this class, Seminar, Global History, Lunch, Gym, Math, Biology, Instrumental Music, and then Italian. Iggy has this class, Seminar, Global History, Lunch, Gym, Math, Biology, Braille training-**

_He has Braille training?! Cool...I guess. He had been learning on his own._

**I know. And lastly, he has Japanese class.**

_Hm..._

The bell rung. I gathered my stuff.

"Hello," Hunter said, a grin on his lips. I tried to stay stoic, but I was losing the battle. "_Isabella_ I believe. Do you have Chemistry next?"

"Well, I believe I do, Mister..." I feigned ignorance of his name.

"Lucas," he said. "Call me Luke."

"Funny," I said. Everyone had left the room by now. "You look more like a Hunter."

He laughed and we walked out the room.

* * *

After a long, uneventful Chemistry class, I walked into my Global History class. I didn't have to introduce myself or anything like that, thankfully. Max had passed me a note in the middle of the class. It said:

_**That Aaron kid...a bit on the creepy side.**_

I wrote back to her.

_Hey, it's Halloween, everyone's like that._

Just then, a teacher's assistant came in, with another kid. I rolled my eyes. Her hair was obviously dyed black. And that mini skirt...ugh. And the shirt...slutty cat much?

"Another one," the history teacher, Mr. Stephan, muttered. The girl picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the board, in script.

_Abagail Janssen_

She turned around.

I resisted the urge to launch myself at her, to take her out then, in front of all of those humans.

"Hey!" Annabell said. "I'm Abagail! I'm new to this school, but hopefully you guys will go easy on me."

**Me: $#!+. Why can't anything go right? And review!**


	28. Relations

**Me: Okay, here's the next chap. I don't own Maximum Ride, I own Shadow, Hunter, Annabell, Ghost, Lie, Cass, Chris, Aaron, and Ghost. And everyone else that comes in later that isn't in Maximum Ride. Also, I picked Shadow's name to be Isabella because Twilight was right in front of me and I was so lazy, I didn't feel like looking for another name. Yep, that's me.**

**Shadow: Thanks to aviator301(Okay, I'll wait), Nathaniel773, aznjtgirl, Pyromaniac-Girl, maximumride24, Green.Winged.Mistress, FangWannabe, SilverScreech, lilswickey101, S.L. Michaels, brebreisme, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, ilovetwilight99, golden-clawed-angel, rosieweasley, OhMyGoshsickels, twilight4ever, MiMiandDiDi, and i love cookies!, for reviewing.**

**Hunter: On with the chap.**

**Chapter 28: Relative**

Outside POV

"Alright, settle down everyone. Abagail, take that seat that's in between Valerie and Timothy," the history teacher said. "I'm Mr. Stephan, welcome to History!" Abagail shot him a smile that was more of a I-will-kiss-your-ass look. She strutted down the row, which happened to be the one where Isabella and Lucas were sitting.

Abagail flipped her dyed black hair over her shoulder as she walked down the aisle. She threw a note on Isabella's desk. Isabella looked down at it with disdain. Abagail used Isabella's distraction to run her hand down Lucas' back. She received low, threatening growls from Alexander and Max.

A snarl ripped from from Isabella's throat, as she heard what happened from her brother's mind. The kids surrounding Isabella looked at her in surprise. They knew that the girl was most likely fierce, but they didn't expect _that_.

Isabella noticed that they were all staring at her, and glared at all of them. They all turned to the front. Isabella waited into Abagail sat into her seat and turned around to read the note.

_I will get what's mine._

"Isabella?" Lucas said quietly, noticing how she quivered violently, and how her hands were gripping the table. Isabella didn't make eye contact with Lucas as she raised her hand. The teacher called on her.

"Yes, Isabell?" the teacher said. The girl inwardly winced at the likeness of that name to another.

"It's Isabella, and can I use the bathroom?" she said.

"Sorry Isabella, and yes, you may use the bathroom," Mr. Stephan said. The girl stood up and walked to the bathroom.

Shadow's POV

I banged my hand on the sink. Dammit! Why can't we go somewhere without that...that WHORE following is?! She's such a-

The bathroom door opened and shut, and there she stood. I glared at her, hating her very image.

"Hello, _Isabella,_" Annabell spat out.

"_Abagail,_" I said evenly.

"So...what are you supposed to be for Halloween? Some Gothic trashy thing? Oh wait...you're a vampire!" She said, walking up to me.

"And I'm guessing that you're a stripper," I said.

"Just because I show off what I have, doesn't mean I'm a stripper."

"No, it just means that you're a whore."

"Oh, and how's that?"

"Well, for one thing, you're wearing underwear as an outfit in the middle of Autumn. Another thing is that you slut off. Do I need to add more?" I was getting hyped up now, and the adrenaline was flooding through my veins.

"So you mean that me touching Hunter was wrong?" She said innocently.

"Yes, touching _Lucas_ was wrong, because he's not yours to touch."

"So he's yours?" She caught me off guard with the question, but I answered.

"No, he's his own person. Not mine, and sure as hell not yours." I hissed, putting venom into my voice. She smirked, went to the mirror, and started to fix her hair.

"Well, he'll be mine soon enough," she said. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, please. Take your psycho 'He's mine' crap and go back to Itex." She looked at me, her eyes solemn. But there was a hint of something else in there. Deceitfulness?

"I broke away from Itex. They didn't treat me right. Especially the Director, she didn't appreciate me so I left," she said. I sneered.

"Yeah, sure. They just let you go run off and enroll into a school. And it just so happens to be the one that the older members of the Flock are in. Well, isn't this coincidental?" I said, crossing my arms. She walked to me and got in my face. I was just _itching_ to smack her.

**Shadow...calm down...you're going to make us go into Cold Fury.**

"Fate and Destiny is on my side. Hunter. Will. Be. Mine," she said. The way she said it...she sounded so sure of herself "And you can't do a _thing_ to stop me." She turned around and started to strut out the bathroom. My stomach dropped. I still had that uncaring look on my face, but inside, I was panicking.

Then the numb feeling started to spread...oh no, not now.

**Shadow...what's wrong? Why do you feel sick? Shadow?! SHADOW!**

"Well," I said as she was about to leave. She froze in place. "If your plan works...which I _doubt_, Hunter will never be yours. He's not an object, not a trophy. Not something that you can ever own, AND YOU KNOW THAT!" I yelled the last part accidentally. Cold Fury was getting harder to control. Annabell whirled around, her yellow-green eyes filled with fury.

"Listen here, oh great ignorant one. He _can_ be owned. And will be by ME! Not by you or my mother!" she shouted.

"And who's your mother who thinks she-"

"My mother is the Director idiot! Obviously!" I blinked in shock. The Director...her mother?! "She rather be Maximum's or Hunter's or Omega's mother, but she's mine! MY MOTHER!" she shouted. "Well, I'm going to show her, I can do things without her and her stupid, idiotic plans!" Annabell stomped out and slammed the door behind her.

I swallowed and when I was sure she was gone, I fell to the ground. I...couldn't...take it all at once...

Max's POV

"Alexander, what's wrong with her? She should've been back by now," Hunter fretted quietly. I could feel his nervousness.

_Hunter, calm down...she's a big girl._

**Yeah, but Fang said she was feeling a bit sick. Now what? What if she's throwing up or if she's overly suffering or- **I had to cut him off.

_Hunter, for all we know, it could just be that time of the month for her! Just calm down, Annabell probably went in there to intimidate her, and really, how would she do that? This is Shadow we're talking about! She's not afraid of Annabell._

**I guess you're right...**

"The Director is Annabell's mother?!" Fang said aloud, shock in his voice.

"What?!" Hunter and I said at the same time.

"So _that's_ where her psycho bitchiness came from," Iggy muttered.

Just at that second, Annabell-or should I say _Abagail_-came in. Her face was red as she gave the pass to the teacher.

"Have you seen Isabella?" Mr. I already forgot his name, asked.

"No, Mr. Stephan," she said, sitting down.

"I think-" Fang was cut off by the door opening slowly. Shadow walked in slowly and put her pass on the teacher's desk.

"Got lost?" the teacher asked. Shadow nodded as she returned to her seat. Hunter poked her.

"Isabella?" she growled and I noticed that she was rocking back and forth slowly on her seat.

"Cold Fury!" Fang hissed. My stomach dropped. Why now?!

And how were we going to help her control it?

Awkwardly, Hunter, who was sitting behind Shadow, started to rub circles down her spine. She straightened out.

"Max," Fang said from next to me. I looked at him. His eyes had a black tint to it, and I knew, he was going into Cold Fury himself. "I'm trying to take some of it from her...but I can't.."

"James," I hissed. "Switch places with me NOW."

The bell rang for the next class. We had lunch now...and they were all leaving the class...no one was really around...the teacher was gone...desperate times call for desperate measures.

I looked over at Hunter, where he was kissing Shadow's face softly. My eye twitched and I looked away. Some things aren't meant to be seen. No matter how cute it seems.

"Ick. I'm waiting out side, you guys are disgusting me..." Iggy huffed, grabbing his backpack and leaving. I looked and braced my self for the task ahead of me.

"Fang," I said, using his real name. "Look at me." He looked at me, Cold Fury more obvious in his eyes now. I gulped and I rubbed the palms of my hands onto my jeans. Okay...I have to do this...for Fang.

I kneeled next to him, since he was still sitting in his seat, put my hands on the sides of his cold face, and kissed him.

Shadow's POV

I felt myself slowly returning to my body. I felt Hunter's lips were on my neck. I yelped in surprise and Hunter backed away.

"Better now?" Hunter breathed. I felt my brain crash. Wait..he just...he just-

Then, pleasure ran through me. I immediately turned to the source. Fang and Max...

"Guys, at least block yourselves if you're going to make out like that," Hunter said. At the second Max jumped from Fang.

"Hunter!" Max shrieked. "That's not funny! That's wrong!" He chuckled and I finally was able to get my brain up and running.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, my words slurring. All I remembered was the bathroom...Annabell.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you at lunch," Hunter said. He put his arm around me and I felt...warm. Loved. For once, I felt loved and wanted.

I smile spread across my face, despite what just happened.

"Max, thanks," Fang said. Hunter smiled roguishly and started whispering 'This is nonsense, just play along'

"What is that, Hunter?" Max said from behind me, her tone deadly.

"Nothing," Hunter said innocently. Silence...then...

"HUNTER!" Max yelled. Hunter laughed and ran out the room. Max chased after him, clearly out for his blood. Fang and I exchanged a confused look.

_What's going on?_

**Maybe it's one of those, better left unknown, things.**

_Yeah, I'm going with that...let's go to lunch._

**Race you.**

_You're on._

Fang jumped out of his seat and out the door. I shook my head and ran after him.

_I didn't know that after this, I wouldn't feel for a long time..._

**Me: Thank you Shadow for your cryptic message. Review people!:)**


	29. Injection

**Me: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**Shadow: But she owns us. Don't use us without permission.**

**Hunter: Thanks to meepisms, ilovetwilight99, crazy.girl.with.wings., FangWannabe, nightingale07, aviator301, maxride08, midnightshadowwings, NorahJones, Jessica, FantasyFan5, rosieweasley, N1gh78un76r, Green. Winged. Mistress, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, Nathaniel773, SilverScreech, DarkBlade98, Within My Grasp, maximumride24, Pyromaniac-Girl, lilswickey101, up and coming writer, brebreisme, golden-clawed-angel, luviz4eva, S.L. Michaels, MiMiandDiDi, and lion fell in luv with the lamb for reviewing. Now for the chap.**

**Chapter 29: Injection**

Shadow's POV

"I can't believe this," I muttered. I was sitting at a lunch table. Actually, I was sitting at the 'Outcasts' table, which was near the 'Goths' and 'Emos'. Yeah, I was definitely at a High School.

And to make it worst...

"Isabella, what's wrong?" Hunter said in a low voice. How can he not notice? He's been to a High School before. Even Fang knows and he's only attended a _private_ school.

"Yeah Isabella, Alexander, what's wrong?" Max asked.

"Just look at Annabell," I hissed. Hunter and Max looked in her general direction, trying not to look too suspicious.

"What about her?" Hunter asked while turning back to face Fang and I.

"Yes, what about her?" Iggy said, rejoining the conversation. Ella was sitting with us too.

"I can't believe you don't notice," I muttered. Hunter was looking at me, concerned now.

"Please, tell me," he said.

"_Abagail _has officially climbed the High School social ladder," Fang muttered. Max blinked and Hunter looked over again.

"Oh," he said.

"So _now_ she's the Queen Bee. Or Queen Bitch. Whatever you want to call it," Iggy muttered. That made my mouth go dry.

_Annabell. Queen. Shadow. Omega. Greek Alphabet. Isabella. Max. Aaron. Alexander. Hunter. Lucas. Abagail. Popular. Outcast. Trophy. Not yours. Surrender. Not mine. Snow White._ _Flock. Itex. World. Max saved the world. But was that all she had to do?_

"Oh Jesus," I muttered, banging my head on the table.

"C'mon Shadow, today's Halloween! You know, you're favorite holiday, where you get free candy for dressing as you usually do! Don't let Annabell get you down," Hunter encouraged.

I guess he's right.

_A week later..._

"Now that's hilarious," I said. I had survived a week of High School. Woopie damn do. It was packed with homework...

And Annabell banging my shoulder in the hallway.

I'm guessing that her plan to get Hunter consists of her banging my shoulder so much so that by the end of High School, my shoulder will be deformed, therefore, Hunter is revolted by it and decides to be with Annabell for all eternity.

Ha.

But once, because a teacher caught her in the hallway, with a jock, and another girl, and Aaron all fighting for some odd reason...do you really want to know the details?

Anyways, so yeah, now they were on lunch duty, _serving all of us lunches_. Not something I'm going to miss out on.

Even though I think school lunch is evil, I went on the lunch line.

Now, for my earlier comment:

"It's the truth, we don't serve outcasts," Annabell's "best friend" for this week said. I rolled my eyes.

"How's this, you don't get a serving of my fist in your face, and I get my serving of mozzarella sticks, got that?" I growled. She blinked.

"Alright then...TWO SERVINGS OF MOZZARELLA STICKS FOR THE OUTCAST!" She shouted to the back.

"I'll outcast you in a second," I hissed. She looked at me, surprised at my hostility, as if she did nothing wrong.

"Jeez, I'm just kidding. Hold onto your damn combat boots," she muttered, keeping her eyes down.

"Yea, sure you were just teasing, now can I place my order?" Iggy said from behind me. I walked to the place to pick up my order.

"Two servings of mozzarella sticks?" the jock said from behind the counter. I showed him my ID and grabbed the tray.

"Yo," he said. I looked at him. "You know...I don't mind dating-"

I walked away before he finished.

Remember that whole 'Let wait till Max and Fang let us out to see a movie, and we can catch a movie, and it'll be so _normal_' crap? Well, Max and Fang are out on a _date_ tomorrow. Iggy and Ella are going to an outside cinema. Nudge is has a play, Angel, Gazzy, Jeb and Dr. Martinez are going out to see that play.

Which leaves Hunter and I alone, with popcorn and movies.

Yum.

"So, you're eating school lunch," Hunter said as I sat down next to him.

"Yep, I did it just to see Annabell toiling over a hot stove," I said.

"And did you see her?"

"Nope, but I didn't eat breakfast either."

"Because you were too busy playing Super Smash Brothers with Gazzy," Max finished. I glared at her and she snickered.

"What? It's a milestone! I had to be there to witness it!"

"And to play also, and beat him," Fang said dryly. I glared at my brother.

"Oh shut up," I said.

"I bet you that Annabell spat in our food," Iggy said.

"Ooo, an extra ingredient," I said. Iggy laughed, while Hunter, Fang, and Max cringed.

"That's not funny Shadow," Hunter said seriously.

"Who's Shadow?" I mocked. He glared and I smirked. Dramatically, I picked one of them up, and put it in my mouth, biting and chewing slowly.

"See, nothing wrong," I said, swallowing the bite of food. Hunter relaxed and I started to finish the food off.

Hunter's POV

_3:55. After school._

"I'm so tired," Ella said, stretching out. "Darn school."

"Yeah, I know," Iggy said, grabbing her by the waist from behind. She giggled and I blinked. Wow...Ella and Iggy were getting pretty close lately...

"Shadow, why do you keep blocking me from your mind?" Fang asked.

"Maybe because I don't want you to know every single thought that I have!" Shadow snapped. I looked back, surprised. Shadow hardly ever snaps like that. Scratch that, Shadow _never_ snaps like that.

Fang looked ahead, but I could tell he was worried. I shot her a 'Are you okay?' look and she ignored it. Her face looked concentrated on something else.

"Lets take off guys," Max said, from the lead.

_Don't worry about it Hunter. She's probably tired and irritable, that's all._

I shook my head and took off into the air.

**It can't be that, Shadow doesn't _snap,_ she simmers in the corner.**

_Alright Hunter, whatever you say._

I glared at Max and she shrugged, flying to the lead. Fang flew past me and I fell back, behind Iggy who was carrying Ella.

Shadow was lagging behind us, _very behind us_.

"What's wrong?" I asked in my no nonsense tone. Shadow shook her head and bit her bottom lip.

"Nothing," she muttered.

"C'mon Shadow, you can tell me," I said soothingly. She shook her head furiously.

"If I did, you'd tell everyone to land, or worse, _carry me._"

"But Shadow-" I said. At that second heat ran through my body and I gasped. Shadow looked at me in alarm.

"What?" She said quickly. A little_ too _quickly...

_Don't worry about that...I think you're getting your super speed powers._

"Oh," I said aloud. Shadow was looking at me questioningly. "I just got a heat flash thingy and Max said I'm getting my speed in mid-air powers." Shadow chuckled.

"Or you could be going through menopause," she said. I glared at her and punched her playfully in the arm. That's when I noticed three things:

1.Shadow was much _much_ warmer than usual.

2.She was sweating.

3.Her voice was very raspy.

"Shadow?" I began.

"Landing time!" Max called. Shadow aimed her wings downward and went down. I sighed and followed her. We all landed and I noticed that she stumbled a bit while landing. Hm...

Max went to the front door and announced that we were home. Shadow, instead of getting a batch of cookies, went straight upstairs. I followed her. She went up to her room and opened the door.

And that's when she collapsed.

I ran behind her and grabbed her. She flopped, lifeless in my arms.

"NO!" I roared. I scooped her up in my arms.

"WHERE IS SHE?" Fang called up the stairs. "I DON'T FEEL HER!"

"SHE'S COLLAPSED!" I yelled back at him.

**_Bring her to the basement, _**the Voice calmly said in my head.

I ran down the stairs and past the Flock. I heard them follow.

"He..must not-have wait..." she mumbled. My heart relaxed, then worried. She was alive. But _what the hell was wrong with her?_

"I'm not-a whore...what do-es he, want-with her? Hey, YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed. I blinked as she started to shake violently.

"Put her on the bed," Dad said, pointing to the hospital bed in the center of a room. Our basement had been upgraded to a hospital wing, specializing for us bird kids.

I put Shadow gently on the bed and she continued to shake and breathed.

"Quit nagging. I'm-not a ...whore, what-does, he w-ant with her...He's mad, I'm glad-shit...It's so wrong, but wh-y I still want him?...So glad-What's wro-ng with him...you can't want him!"

"Crap," Fang mutter. He leaned against the wall, his face drawn, his eyes elsewhere.

"Back away from her," Dad said. I backed up and he went over her. He jumped back when she sat straight up.

"Not yours...NEVER YOU-RS! I'M NOT- He must not h-ave waited!...S-he's a whore... O-no...not there- JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, curling into a ball. I blinked as Fang slid slowly to the floor.

"Valencia! Tranquilizer!" Dad called. Mom ran in, a needle in her hand.

"Hunter, restrain her," Dad said as he took the needle from Mom. I hesitated and Fang hissed quietly.

I walked over and held her down.

Shadow started screaming.

"Dad!" I yelled.

"Alright, just a moment," Dad said. I heard Angel sob loudly.

"Lethal-, you drug..Darling...Y-you-rr fault," she said. The air froze in my throat. Her eyes snapped open, unfocused and bloodshot.

"YOU DIE!" she screamed. _Just like my dream..._

That's when her hands wrapped around my throat.

"Hunter!" Max cried out.

Her hands went slack.

"It's over-...don't look back-don't look at me...It's ove-"

Her eyes shut and she collapsed into the pillow.

My knees went out from under me and my face fell into the bed.

_What did this all mean?_

_

* * *

_

"What's wrong with her?" Max asked. I stared blankly at the wall next to her. Fang was half asleep since his sister was. Iggy was trying to distract the younger members of the Flock, while listening.

"We found a poison in her bloodstream. This poison is usually used...well-" Dad looked away then looked back.

"It's used to speed up the expiration process in the experiments," My heart almost stopped.

"Everyone had their own special poison. What works on Omega won't work on Iggy. What works on Max won't work on Hunter, no matter how much blood is shared," He looked at all of us. "I destroyed Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Total's poison. But...I never even saw Shadow and Hunter's poison. The Director must have it." My stomach sank.

"So wait...we won't expire?" Max said.

"One day you'll die, but not because of the expiration injection," Dad said. He looked at me seriously. "You and Shadow on the other hand-"

Fang's eyes reopened and looked to the doorway. I looked also.

Shadow was there, breathing heavily, looking worn, but still alive and conscious.

I jumped out of my seat and ran over, grabbing her and hugging her tightly.

"Unh..." She groaned groggily.

"Yes?" I said.

"What the hell happened to me?"

**Me: Lets cut everything right here. Now, do you people know what's going to happen? Take a guess at it. There's a lot of foreshadowing here. Use the clues from here, Nightmares(Chapter 27) and Head Pains (Chapter 22) (Hint: The foreshadowing is in Hunter's Dreams only.) The person who guesses right gets a peek at the next chappie! Now, guess and review! **


	30. Surrender

**Me: Alright peeps. So, only one person guessed right and knows what's going to happen. **

**Shadow: After some major thinking, that is. Congrats DarkBlade98.**

**Hunter: Also, cookies for rosieweasley(who sorta halfway got it), sharp fang, MR all the way, MiMiandDiDi, and meepisms for trying. But...no dice, though some came close. Consolation prize is chocolate chip cookies! Dig in. (Hands cookies to each of the reviewers mentioned)**

**Me: I don't own Maximum Ride characters, I do own my own. No taking without my permission. Oh, and I don't own Surrender by Evanescence either. **

**Shadow: Thanks to golden-clawed-angel, DarkBlade98, lilswickey101, maxridefan5, Green.Winged.Mistress, Nathaniel773, S.L. Michaels, aviator301, rosieweasley, sharp fang, ilovetwilight99, MiMiandDiDi, meepisms, NorahJones, FlamingFlie, MR all the way, luviz4eva, and WANNABE-AUTHOR92 for reviewing. **

**Me: Alright...now people...be warned.**

**Chapter 30: Surrender**

Hunter's POV

As I sat in this boring Seminar Class, I couldn't help but remember what happened after Shadow came through the doorway.

_"Well, Shadow" Dad said after she sat down, next to me. I rubbed in between her wings, just to calm her down. "Do you remember any needles or anything like that put into you at school?"_

_Shadow shook her head, her eyes on the ground. "No."_

_"What's the last thing you remember?" Dad prodded carefully._

_"Walking into my room," she said._

_"Were you feeling okay?" Why was he talking to her like she was a child?_

_"No."_

_"How did you feel?"_

_"Everything was too hot, and everything was going too slow," she answered. She reminded me of when she was six, and was telling the teacher what she had done wrong,_

_"When did you start feeling this way?"_

_"Um...a bit after lunch."_

_"What did you eat for lunch?"_

_"I ate mozzarella sticks."_

_"Who served it to you?"_

_"Some boy. He's popular. His name is Dan."_

_"Was there anything else different, in terms of who cooked the food?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Who cooked the food?"_

_"Annabell."_

_Silence went through the room and went around us like a blanket._

_"Are you tired Shadow?" She nodded._

_"Do you want to sleep?" She nodded again._

_"Hunter," Dad finally addressed me. I looked at him. "Will you please bring Shadow downstairs?" _

_I nodded and grabbed Shadow's hand, walking her to the doorway. She stumbled down the stairs and into the basement. She climbed onto the bed and laid there, just staring at the ceiling._

_"Shadow?" I said, a bit creeped out by her behavior._

_"Yes?"_

_"Are you feeling okay?"_

_"What happened Hunter? I feel...weak. Too weak. My muscles hurt when I move them. My thoughts are jumbled. I can barely remember anything...WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?" She screamed the last part. I jumped a bit._

_"Hunter! Come upstairs!" Dad called. I gave Shadow one last look and turned around to head upstairs. Someone's hand wrapped around my wrist. I looked back._

_The look on Shadow's face hurt me._

_She looked so young, so...scared._

_"Don't leave me again," she whispered. My mouth went dry._

_"Wha-?" I started to ask. Fang appeared at the doorway. He gestured for me to get out. I sighed and gently removed her hand from my wrist. She made a sound, which sounded like a choked sob._

_"Shadow...I'm not going anywhere," I said._

_"You say that now, but just you wait. I was off. Shut up, he walks here with the thought of destroying me. Will you forget me? He must not have waited," Shadow said. Oh, not this again._

_"Hunter, go upstairs," Fang said. I shot Shadow one last glance and walked past Fang out the doorway._

Jeb said later that the poison did that to her. Delusions and illusions, stuff like that. But when I left this morning, she was absolutely fine, with no memory of what happened, though I think Fang may have had a hand in that.

She didn't come to school today, Jeb wanted to keep an eye on her._ But...our date is still on._

The bell rang and class ended. I smiled. It was date time. Max and Fang had left last period, I was alone.

"Lucas, can I speak with you?" the teacher asked.

Oh, c'mon!

Annabell's POV

**(Song lyrics are in italics) **

Good, the teacher kept him in. And all of the kids has left the building, perfect. Everything was going according to plan.

I had to thank Omega for this later. This plan was fool-proof.

"Target is walking out of the classroom," a voice on my radio said. I checked the bathroom mirror one more time. Hair was back to it's normal color, and I looked as good as always.

It's like today was _Destiny_.

I walked out the bathroom and sure enough saw Hunter. Oblivious to me, he was humming walking quickly down the hall.

I followed him.

A few seconds later, his pace slowed, then quickened. Finally, he looked back. I could've sworn that he rolled his eyes.

My baby was _never_ that disrespectful to me.

"Hunter," I called. He turned his head back around and kept walking.

Well, I guess he was a _tiny_ bit mad at me for poisoning that bitch.

"Turn to me," I commanded. I could've sworn I heard him snort and he kept walking. Oh, hell no.

"Hunter, I'm warning you," I called. Still, he ignored me.

That is the one thing that pisses me off.

"Get him," I said into the microphone. Immediately, Erasers busted out of the classroom and jumped him. Hunter yelped in surprise as they tackled him to the ground, his books went flying into the air.

"Don't damage him...and bring him to his knees in front of me," I ordered, a smile on my face. _Now_, I know why my Mother loves this so much.

I walked up to them, and Hunter kept his eyes on the ground.

"Look at me," I said in a harsh tone. He refused. I gestured at a Eraser, and he grabbed Hunter's soft hair, and yanked his head so he looked up at me.

Hunter's honey eyes showed anger, hate, and disgust.

_Is this real enough for you?_

"What do you want?" he spat.

"You," I said simply. His eyes widened.

"What? What do you mean? What for? Why are you doing this?" He said.

Jeez, he asks a lot of questions.

_You were so confused_

"Alright, I'll tell you," I said calmly. "But I want you to sit still without the Erasers holding you."

His eyes narrowed, but when the Erasers let go of his arms, he sat down, and stood still. I smiled. This was going perfectly.

_Now that you've decided to stay_

_We'll remain together_

"Hunter, I've liked you for like, forever," I continued. "And only one person stood in the way of our happiness. And that person is Shadow."

Hunter's face was emotionless, but I think he wanted to burst out laughing.

I doubt that though. He loves me too much to laugh at me.

"I'll admit, she's pretty, and she's been you're friend for like, forever, so you have been wanting to let her down easily. But it's taking too long Hunter! I can't wait anymore! We need to be together, and I have a plan for that," I finished, crossing my arms.

Hunter blinked and stood up, stretching. "Well Annabell, thanks, but no thanks."

Oh hell no. He needs to learn that I _rule_ over all of these idiots._ I_ rule _him_. HE'S MINE.

_You can't abandon me_

_You belong to me_

"Sit down," I growled. He shrugged and walked off. I growled. Why doesn't he get that we belong together? That he's the one. WE. BELONG. TOGETHER.

_Breathe in and take my life in you_

_No longer myself only you_

_There's no escaping me my love_

_Surrender_

"GET BACK," I yelled. He kept walking. I looked at my Erasers. "Get him."

_Darling there's no sense in running_

They ran after him. He looked back and started running down the hallway. I walked after them calmly. They were going to catch him anyway. Erasers were swarming in the building. 50 of them.

_You know I will find you_

They surrounded him. They parted a whole for me as I walked into the circle. An Eraser was holding Hunter on his knees. I caressed his cheek.

I know I'm going to succeed. Me and Hunter. Together. Forever.

_Everything is perfect now_

_We can live forever_

"Don't touch me," he said harshly. I dug my nails into his cheek and lowered myself to look him in the eyes.

It was time to reveal the plan.

"I wouldn't say anything that would get me mad if I were you right now," I hissed. He's going to have to learn that_ I_ rule. _I_ control.

_You can't abandon me_

_You belong to me_

"What do you mean?" he asked. I smiled. He was going to hear me out. He was going to listen to me.

He was going to fall to me.

_Breathe in and take my life in you_

_No longer myself only you_

_There's no escaping me my love_

_Surrender_

"Well Hunter, remember yesterday and your.._.friend's _mozzarella sticks?" I asked. "I bet when she got home, she wasn't doing too good, was she?" I said. His eyes narrowed.

"That was you. Wasn't it?" He growled.

"C'mon, who else could it be?" I said. He glared at me.

"I should tear you to pieces," he roared. I snickered, but inside that hurt. He didn't have to act like he hated me right now. The others aren't around.

"I wouldn't threaten me like that, if I were you. Because what if I added a little bit more? And that stuff stays in the body for a pretty long time, especially if it didn't do it's job, which is to kill the host. But what if I added a bit more? What did she do last night? Get a nosebleed? Did she throw up? Have a seizure? Scream that there's fire in her veins, but have a temperature of 95 degrees, which is like, way below the Avian-hybrid average? Did she see things, or imagine things that were not there?" I laughed then. He looked so horrified. "Ah, not yet, it seems. But wouldn't it be devastating if that were to happen? And wouldn't that be a slow, agonizing, sad death. I'd be a shame if that happen just because you didn't listen to me."

"What do you want?" He whispered. "Don't do that to her...I'll do anything."

Perfect.

_Hands up slowly_

"You have to be my boyfriend. Until I release you from under my...grasp, you're mine, you got that? You do everything I tell you to. And you can't tell anyone that this is a deal," I said. Hunter looked at me with disgust and looked at the ground.

There was silence as he thought.

_Give in to me_

"Fine. I'll...do it," he said, shutting his eyes tightly.

YES!

"I'll-be your whatever you want me to be. Just don't hurt Shadow," he continued. I squealed out loud, and grabbed his face, kissing him forcefully on the lips.

_Breathe in and take my life in you_

_No longer myself only you_

_There's no escaping me my love _

_Surrender_

He refused to kiss me back. I pulled away from him and glared.

_Surrender_

"Remember our deal. I don't kill her, and you're my one and only," I said. He glared at me, his eyes full of hate.

_Surrender _

I kissed his again, and this time.

This time, he kissed me back.

_Surrender_

He tasted like victory.

_You will surrender to me_

_There's no escaping from me_

_I know you want her to be_

_You must surrender to me_

Shadow's POV

"Are you going to wake him up yet? It's 5 o'clock," Chris said eagerly. Yes, they were here. Ghost, Chris, Cass and Lies were alerted of my...problem...yesterday via e-mail, and Dr. Martinez drove them up here. They've been good company all day...

But I want them out.

C'mon, I want my date with Hunter to be romantic, without one of them giggling in the middle, or making kissy faces.

Those idiots.

But they're my idiots.

"I dunno," I answered. "I mean, Hunter crashed when he got here. Seriously, he almost fell unconscious at the doorway. Do you think-"

"Shadow," Chris said. "I've taken all afternoon to get you ready. You look fucking awesome. Wake Hunter's ass up and get him downstairs."

"Fine," I said, playfully rolling my eyes and getting up.

"Seriously girlfriend," Lies said, imitating Chris's voice. "You look so fine. You'll knock that boy off his feet!" I chuckled as Chris glared and smacked his arm.

"All of you, go to my room," I ordered. Lies groaned.

"I wanted to tease you two..." He said.

"I know, that's why you're going to my room," I said.

"For later on, cause, you know, Hunter may _think_ you're in love with him..." That time, I really laughed and pushed him playfully.

"Ooo, let me find out," Chris said. I shook my head and Ghost snickered.

"Like she'd go out with your ugly ass," he muttered. Lies glared at him.

"Lets take this outside," Lies said, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh c'mon, we all know that Shadow is my bitch," Chris said, putting her arm around me. I shook my head.

"All of you are nuts," I said.

"Isn't that what you love about us?" Cass spoke up from her drawing.

"Yep. All of you nutcases, upstairs, now," I said.

"For later right, and you're going to invite Hunter, right?" Lies said. All of them busted out laughing.

"You're nasty Lies," Cass said from in between giggles.

"No, he's a freak," Chris said as they walked upstairs.

I chuckled and shook my head. Now, for the more serious matters. I felt my smile fade.

When he came, he came late, and looked out of it. Really out of it. And his eyes looked pained, especially when he looked at me. Ghost and Lies had brought him to his room, and Chris tried to take my mind off of it by dressing me up with colorful clothes.

I looked in the mirror and say someone who could've been me. Firstly, I was wearing _make-up_. A design under my left eye, and blue eye shadow on my right eyelid. And I was actually wearing _earrings_. Then, she made me put on this blue and white tank top, and jeans. No combat boots, or Converse. Just sneakers.

I looked "normal".

I walked up the stairs and opened the door to Hunter's room. He looked really worn. I grabbed his shoulder and shook it. He moaned and I shook it harder.

"Hunter?" I said softly. He rolled over so that he was facing me. His eyes slowly opened.

"Shadow?" he said.

"Yes?"

"Was it all a dream?" he whispered.

"What was? You came home barely conscious, what's wrong?" I said.

"Um...yes, exactly, it was all just a dream," Hunter continued, smiling.

"Hunter?" Now I was really confused. "What was a dream?" He sat up and grabbed my arm so I was sitting next to him.

"Don't worry about it. Now, it's time for our date, correct?" Hunter said. I blinked at his mood swing. Now I know how he feels around me.

"Um...okay Hunter," I said. He smiled, a real big one which dazzled me and dragged me downstairs with him.

We plopped down on the sofa and he grabbed the remote, trying to find a channel with a movie playing.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked again.

"Yes, I am. My nightmare threw me off, that's all," he answered.

"What was it about?"

Silence.

"I prefer not to talk about it."

"Okay," I said, looking at the screen.

"Hey, do you want to watch 28 Days Later?" he asked.

"Sure," I said, shooting him a grin. He went on the channel and we started to watch. Soon, I lost interest in the movie and started to notice things about him that I hadn't when he first walked into the doorway.

His clothes were ripped in some places.

He had blood on his cheek.

He smelled of strawberry lip gloss.

What the hell?

"Shadow?" he said. I focused on his eyes. "Are you okay?

"Sure, just a bit _off_," I said. _Because, you know, I think you smell like strawberry lip gloss... _

"Oh," he said. He put his arm around me, and brought me closer.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

"Yes," I whispered back, mostly because I could barely form a sentence in my head,

"Fine." He looked back at the television. I sighed and leaned on his shoulder.

That's when he kissed my cheek. Then my jawline.

I felt my face go hot. Oh God, I can't believe this is truly happening.

Then...

_Ding dong. _

I cursed under my breath and Hunter moved back.

"I'll get it," he said, standing up. I yawned as he left the living room. I heard the door open and a sharp gasp.

I turned back to see Hunter being dragged outside by his shirt.

I shot out of my seat and ran to the door, throwing it open.

To see Annabell kissing Hunter.

"HEY!" I shouted, out rage. Oh, _hell_ no. Today was my freaking _date_! Annabell jumped from Hunter, and smugly looked at me.

"Yes?" she said.

"Get off him! And what the hell are you doing here?" I yelled.

"What do you mean get off him? He's mine," she said.

"Not with this bullshit again," I muttered.

"I'm telling the truth," Annabell said. "Hunter is my boyfriend, right Hunter? And don't you just love me so much Hunter?"

I looked at him. He'll straighten this out. He'll tell her off. He'll-

"Yes Annabell," Hunter said. "I'm your boyfriend. And I love you very much."

Wait...what?

I searched his for sarcasm, for a lie.

There was nothing.

He was telling the truth.

My world broke.

I couldn't breathe and I saw Hunter's eyes widen.

"Shadow?" he said, reaching out for me.

I slammed the door in his face before he could touch me and ran upstairs, tears falling, splattering onto the floor.

That's my heart.

A tear. It fell.

Broken.

**Me: ...Review...**


	31. How Life Freaks Me Over

**Me: Okay, so, Chapter 31…yes, what a special chapter. Record number of reviews for the last chapter! 34! I'm so happy (smiles) or maybe just delirious. I don't know. I don't own my line breaks. They are from the song Bleed by Evanescence. They're used for 3 reasons. 1. That particular part of the song has been stuck in my head for the last week. 2. I love the lyrics 3. They go really well with the situation. ****Anyways, I don't own Maximum Ride. I own my characters. Now, let's start the chap…**

**Chapter 31: How Life Freaks Me Over**

Max's POV

"That was nice," I said to Fang. We were flying home after our dinner "date".

It _was_ nice. I wasn't lying for Fang's sake.

At first, it was awkward. I mean, c'mon, me and _Fang_. It was practically _inviting_ awkwardness to our table.

But then Fang started imitating the waiter, and I cracked a joke or two…

Well, to put it simply, we just slipped into it.

Fang nodded and looked thoughtful. "I've been blocking Shadow all night. I wonder how she's doing."

"I can't feel Hunter from this far away," I said.

"You got your powers after us," he said. I turned to look at him, and he had this far off look.

There was silence as we flew.

"Damn," he hissed. I looked back at him in alarm. His face was like stone. "She won't let me in."

"Why?" I asked. I saw him twitch.

"She just screamed at me, in my head," Fang said. "She's arguing with someone."

Shadow would never lose her cool like that.

"Let's go," I said.

_Not what it seems_

_Not what you think_

_I must be dreaming_

Shadow's POV

I have never felt so cold in my life. I curled up into an even tighter ball to warm myself up. I wasn't even in my own room. I was in my brother's. The others were in my room. Or, at least, they were. I had heard arguing before and now, it had lapsed into uneasy silence.

**Shadow, what-**

_GET OUT!_ I screamed at him, squeezing my eyes shut. I didn't want to deal with anyone right now. I couldn't even deal with myself.

"Shadow! Shadow, come downstairs right now!" I heard Max call. My eyes snapped open. What the hell? Well, maybe Max used her super speed to get here and Fang is still back there. I stood up, brushing myself off. I walked to the door, unlocked it, and walked out. From there, I walked downstairs. I heard people getting louder.

"I don't understand!" I heard Chris wail. "Why would you do that?"

"Simple, he loves me," I heard Annabell say. I felt a wave of pain go through me hissed, and quietly, I snuck into the kitchen. Chris was sitting directly across from Annabell, and both of them seemed at a stalemate. Cass was staring out the window, detaching herself from it all. Lies was looking through the refrigerator and Ghost was standing behind Chris, his arms crossed, his expression angry. Hunter was staring at the floor, his hair over his eyes. Annabell just looked smug.

_That's because she won…_

"I wasn't asking you," Chris snarled. I felt too weak to cheer that she was on my side. I never felt so alone in my life.

"Look who's here!" Annabell exclaimed. I cursed her in my head. I have never hated anyone more in my life. Everyone turned in my direction. Damn…why is everyone staring at me?

"Shadow," Hunter said his eyes hopeful. I immediately backed away. I couldn't deal with him right now. I shook my head.

"No…don't come near me," I whispered. He reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Shadow, we need to talk." I tried to snatch my wrist back.

"No we don't! I can't talk to you right now, just don't come near me!" I said, my voice going into hysterics. He looked at me straight in my eyes. Those golden eyes never felt so alien to me.

"You heard her! Get away!" Ghost shouted. He came over and ripped Hunter's hand from my wrist. He stood in front of me, protecting me. I stepped back, rubbing my wrist, still staring at Hunter.

_What has he become?_

"Aw, Shadow needs her boyfriend to fight her battles," Annabell taunted. My temper flared.

"Excuse me? Why don't you go and fuck yourself?! NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE!" I shouted. Cass, Chris, and Lies stared at me in amazement. No one, for the exception of the Flock and Ghost, has ever seen my temper go off like this.

"How eloquent. You're using big girl words!" Annabell said. I tried to calm myself. I couldn't go into Cold Fury with 4 humans around. Who knows what Cold Fury is like around them?

"Where's Max," I said through gritted teeth. Ghost looked at me skeptically.

"Max isn't here yet," he said. I locked onto Annabell. There was only one person who could imitate Max's voice with no problem that is right here, currently.

"You," I growled.

"Give the girl a prize," Annabell said, clapping her hands. I roared and lunged at her. I heard Cass scream, but I didn't care at the moment. Someone had grabbed me before I could get my hands around that bitch's scrawny little neck.

"YOU GOT WHAT YOU FREAKING WANTED. JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE ALREADY! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ONE DAY, SO WATCH YOUR FUC-mmph!" Someone covered my mouth before I could continue.

"Shadow!" I recognized the voice and struggled against the person. "Shadow, calm down," Hunter said.

"LET GO OF HER!" Ghost yelled. He ran over and punched Hunter _hard_ in the face. Hunter's arms released me and I felt myself fall to the ground. I picked myself off the ground and used everyone's shocked distraction as a chance. I lunged at Annabell and we hit the ground. I saw the look in her eyes.

Was that fear?

That made me smile.

I punched her hard in the face. It was all I could do before people grabbed me by my arms and off of her. They threw me to the ground and Lies sat on my stomach.

"EVERYONE ENOUGH!" Cass shouted. I froze. Cass _never_ shouts like that.

"Everyone needs to calm down," she said, a bit quieter. Lies turned to me.

"Remind me to never piss you off," he said. I glared at him and he shrugged, turning away.

"Get off me," I said.

"As long as you promise not to go crazy on us again," he replied. I shoved him off and sat up. Chris and Ghost were guarding me, and Cass was in the middle.

"THAT _THING_ HIT ME!" Annabell screamed. Psycho button pressed. Now initiating auto-response.

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING!" I screamed back.

"SHUT UP YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH!"

"BITCH!

"SLUT!"

"BE QUIET!!" Max shouted and came through the doorway, followed by my brother. He looked straight at me, anger apparent in his eyes and suddenly, I felt my mind barriers being torn down. I tried to put up new ones but it was too late. Fang already saw everything he needed to.

He locked onto Hunter. "What?" his tone of voice was low and deadly. "You what?"

"Fang, let me-" Fang's anger was building and I grabbed the carpet. It was getting harder to control myself.

"Why did you let Annabell call my sister down? She doesn't want to talk. She doesn't need to talk. She-"

I held my head together. I felt like it was going to split into pieces. Why couldn't things be simple? Why was everything too fast, yet too slow at the same time? Why did this happen, when everything was going so well? Why? Why? Why? WHY? I NEED ANSWERS!

"Shadow, come with me," I heard Max say. Her warm hand grabbed my arm and she hauled me up and out of there.

_Just in my mind_

_Not real life_

_I must be dreaming_

Max's POV

I grabbed Shadow and hauled her outside, the backyard. She was so _cold_. I could feel Hunter breathing down my mind barriers when I slid the glass door shut.

"Okay Shadow, what happened?" I asked. Her eyes were set on the ground. I shook her a bit and she looked up. Her eyes looked…blank.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I said, using a softer approach. She looked down.

"Ask your brother," she said monotonous.

"Shadow…"

"I'm going to my room," she said and walked inside, her eyes still on the ground. I looked in after her. I sighed and started to walk away from the house.

_Okay, what the heck did you do to her? _I asked my brother.

**Max, I'm not sure if I can tell you.**

_What do you mean that you can't tell me?_

**Max**** just trust me. If I could tell you what's going on, Shadow wouldn't be how she is now.**

_Hunter, tell me what you can at least!_

**Annabell is my girlfriend. **That made me freeze in place.

_What?_

**Annabell is my-**

_I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID! How the hell did that happen?!_

**If I could tell you, I would. I was sworn to secrecy.**

_Then why don't you tell Shadow that?_

**She wouldn't take that as an answer. She would want the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I can't tell her that.**

_Well, what can you tell her?_

**Nothing. I can't tell her, especially with Annabell around.**

_She set you up, didn't she?_

**Duh.**

_I thought you said you couldn't tell anybody._

**Um…well…I can't control my thoughts, and um…you had just happened to be in my brain and heard that… **

_Wow Hunter. Real smooth._

**And technically, if you told Shadow then ****I wouldn't be breaking my sworn promise that, if I broke, would be her doom.**

_…Going back to the house now._

I snapped out of my twin telepathy trance and realized I was deep in the forest that was in the backyard.

"Crap," I muttered and was about to turn around when…

"Max," I heard a familiar voice say. I whirled around to the source.

Aaron was leaning against the tree, tossing a walkie-talkie up and down in the air. Immediately all of my muscles tensed up.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled. In all of my life, I've been taught to trust no one. And right now, Aaron fell all the way down on the trust meter.

"Aw, don't I get a hello?" he said, making shivers run down my back. I went into a fighter's stance and he chuckled.

"Who are you really?" I snarled. I swear, if this is Omega in disguise…

"Aaron" came over and held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Epsilon. And you've just made a big mistake by not running missy." As soon as he said that, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I turned around and saw a bunch of kids, about my age come out of the forest depths. All of them were identical mostly. Same brown hair, same silvery blue eyes. The only difference was that some of them were male and some were female.

"Meet my family. I'm sure you know my brother the best," Epsilon said. As that was said, Omega stepped from in, the kids parted as he walked through.

"Hello Maximum," he said, standing at the head of them.

I was so screwed right now.

"Now Maximum, I want to offer you a proposition," Epsilon said. I unwillingly turned around to face him. He had a smug look on his face. And behind him…

Behind him was an army of Erasers.

Oh God, this was really bad.

"These Erasers and my family will attack the house. Only on my command though. Now, if you do exactly what I order you to, at any time, then we won't attack," Epsilon explained. This guy _must_ be an amateur.

"And if I refuse?" I said. Epsilon smiled creepily.

"Then your family dies," He said, snapping his fingers. A few Erasers surrounded me and I slipped into a fighter's stance.

"Is she really going to defy us?" one of the kids, a girl said.

"I doubt that Beta," Omega said.

"C'mon Max," Epsilon cooed. "Are you going to be the cause of your family's death just because you were too prideful?"

"Pride was the downfall of many powerful leaders," A male from Omega's family said.

"I guess she wants the little girl and boy dead. They must've gotten annoying to her," a female said.

"Omicron, Iota, be quiet," Omega hissed.

"But they do have a point," a different one-female-said.

"Lambda," Omega warned.

"The one that talks too much must've also gotten tiring," a boy said.

"Yes, and the blind one must've became a liability," Lambda spoke up again.

"And the new ones are probably more liabilities also. The girl with her emotional instability and the boy-Hunter-I bet she doesn't want him there either, for him and her second-in-command is bound to fight sooner or later for position of alpha male," Beta said.

"Oh, very true," Omicron spoke up.

"She should join us."

"Yes, she's supposedly the Maximum."

"Join us. We're better than your useless Flock."

"ENOUGH!" Omega roared. They all quieted. Omega looked at me. "Max, choose now. Your pride or your family." Omega's family surrounded me, and behind them were Erasers.

I never gave into the enemy. Never. Ever.

But will I risk the Flock's lives?

"Max!" I heard Angel call. My heart jumped and I saw a hungry look pass between two Erasers. Oh no…

"Alright Max, it's your fault then," Epsilon said, turning around.

"NO!" I cried out. Epsilon turned back around, a smile on his face.

"Then will you follow my terms?" he asked. I looked at the general area were Angel was coming, and then looked back at him.

I had to make the choice now, or Angel was Eraser food.

Will I give into the enemy?

Or…will I be the death of the Flock?

"Epsilon," I said, breathing out. He eyed me. "I-I…"

"Spit it out," Lambda said.

"I give in," I said quickly. Epsilon stared at me, and slowly, a smile spread across his face.

"Good choice Max, very good choice," he said. He looked others, then back at me. "See you tomorrow at school Maxie." It seemed as if they were fading into the shadows of the forest.

"Max!" Angel called again.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and then Epsilon started whispering in my air, making me go stiff, "Remember, the Erasers will always be patrolling the forest. Don't tell anyone of this little deal. And don't make a wrong move Maximum."

Then he was gone.

Angel ran into the clearing. She looked at me, big blue eyes confused. "Are you okay Max?"

I plastered a big smile onto my face, even though I felt like kicking myself. "Yeah, sure Angel."

"Jeb wants a meeting, and he said that he didn't want to use the Voice anymore because it's an invasion to your privacy," she said in one breath. The one time that I _actually_ wanted Jeb to pop in my head…

"Alright Angel, let's go," I said jumping into the air and spreading my wings. Angel did the same thing next to me.

I blocked what had just happened in the forest from her. She didn't need to know about it.

But really, what have I done?

**Me: Well Max, what do you **_**think**_** you've done? Anyways, review! **


	32. Secrets and Lies

**Me: ****Alright, update time. ****A total of 9 days till my birthday. Yay! ****I don't own Maximum Ride or The Odyssey****. I OWN**** my characters**** Shadow, Hunter, Annabell, Lies, Cass, Chris, Ghost, the Erasers (Snap, Crackle and Pop), my Omega family, my plot, EVERYTHING! ****I'm sorry, but that's how it works. I have claimed these characters on my first post of this story, which was in July of 2007. ****Thanks to LOL-ninjas-stole-my-homework, crazy. girl. ****with****wings****brebreisme****, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, NorahJones, shadowytwilight, aviator301, MiMiandDiDi, ShaeShae96, Jess, Demon of the Rising Dark, alamodie, ilovetwilight99, FlamingFlie, MR fanatic, Flame-Taw, golden-clawed-ange****l, duudezilla, bookcrzygirl, ****Pyromaniac-Girl**** lilswickey101****and noname (for safety) ****for reviewing. **

**Quote of the Update: **

**Homer: I'M SICK OF YOUR LIES! SECRETS AND LIES****! It's always secrets and LIES.**

**Marge: Homer, these people are professional roasters. Don't give them fodder. (Marge looks and sees Homer slumped on the table, ****snoring and ****drunk.)**

**Marge: (groans)**

**Homer: (Into the table) Secrets and lies!**** –Homer and Marge from _The Simpsons, (_**_**Season 13 Episode 17)**** Gump Roast**_

**_Chapter 32: Secrets and Lies_**

Max's POV

I can't believe I was blackmailed. Me. Blackmailed! This is unfair! Wrong!

"Max," Fang said. I looked up at him. He looked tired, as if he hadn't slept all night. "Max, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said looking straight at him. I really_ hated_ lying to Fang. It felt so wrong.

But I had to. Or he was dead.

I had to guard my mind from Angel. If she found out and told the rest of the Flock, Epsilon might find out. He might have sneaked cameras into the house, or put microphones or…

And anyways, the Flock can be a cast of actors, but they weren't that good. One of them might slip up.

And that would be the death of them.

I won't risk it.

"Where's everyone? Breakfast is ready," Mom said. I cleared my throat.

"GUYS! BREAKFAST!" I hollered. Iggy and Ella came down first, smiling. Then Angel and the Gasman, followed by Nudge. I felt a wave of regret as my brother came over and sat down next to me. Jeb sat next to him. Fang cleared his throat and took a bite of his bacon. Hunter was staring at the only empty seat at the table.

I looked to the side then back at Fang. "Is she coming down?" I whispered. I could see Nudge and Gazzy staring awkwardly at the empty chair. Iggy cleared his throat, and I knew that he heard what I said.

There are no keeping secrets in this Flock.

But I will try my best to keep mine…and Hunter's.

Yes, I haven't forgotten Hunter's problem.

And he knows mine.

"She's coming down," Fang said. Almost like a response, I heard the clunking of combat boots on the stairs. Which I found strange since usually, you can't even tell where she is, let alone hear her.

Then she appeared at the doorway. Looking like the undead. Her eyes were swollen and she looked as if she was going to collapse from exhaustion. Plus, she was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

"Shadow?" Gazzy breathed.

"What the hell happened to you?" Total exclaimed from under the table. I didn't bother to scold him for language.

"What's wrong with her?" Iggy breathed to Ella. Shadow seemed to not have heard them as she walked to her seat. She sat down and picked at her food.

Hunter was unmindful to all of us as he ate. He looked in her direction, his eyes widened, and he started choking. Shadow seemed oblivious to him as she continued to play with her food.

Silence wrapped around us when Hunter stopped choking to stare at her in disbelief. Then, awkwardness.

"They're still here. In the basement," Fang said. Shadow's eyes flickered to him then back down to her food. I saw Fang's eyes narrow and he sighed. She nodded, pushed the food away from her and left the room. Everyone continued to eat in silence. I looked around the table at each of the faces of my Flock. Some looked scared, others angry. And my brother looked so guilty. And he_ felt_ guilty also.

"Oh gosh," I heard someone at the doorway say. I looked over and saw Chris and Lies staring after Shadow.

"I'm going to fix her up," Chris said. I saw her leave the doorway. Lies sighed and went sat in Shadow's former seat. He smelt the food and stuffed it in his mouth.

"It tastes good to me."

_Not what it seems_

_Not what you think_

_I must be dreaming_

The flight was uneventful and dull. Chris had "fixed" Shadow up by forcing her to change out of her clothes and putting on make-up that hid her tired eyes. We landed behind the school and walked in. I looked behind us and around us. No Aaron. Epsilon. Whatever.

"Why are you so jumpy Max?" Fang asked._ Way to read me Fang…_

"No reason Alexander," I said. We were on school grounds now. Shadow walked beside Iggy and Hunter walked behind us, his head down. I could feel his depression from where I was standing. Which wasn't very far, but still…

"Fine Max," Fang sighed. Others kids crowded around us as we walked into the school making me feel a bit closed in.

"I will find out though," Fang breathed in my ear, making my eyes widen. Since when was he so…I don't care about personal space-y.

We walked into the classroom and sat in our seats. Shadow hunched over her desk and then Aaron walked into the room. Cold dread (or sweat, can't be bothered to tell the difference now) went down my back. He smiled at me, and sat down in his seat. I shivered.

"Today," the teacher began. "You will work in pairs on this evil meter. This is completely your opinion on what is bad and what isn't." She passed out the worksheets and kids began to turn to one another to verify partnership.

"Excuse me Max. You're my partner," Aaron said. Fang's eyes widened a bit in confusion and anger, showing that he was dumb-founded and pissed. And he was going to be more shocked in a minute…

"Okay," I said. I went over and put my books on the desk, sitting down in my seat.

"What the hell...?" Iggy asked.

"I just decided to work with Aaron," I said, without looking at them. Fang would know it was all a scam if he saw my face. I heard Hunter sigh.

"I'll work with you Iggy," Hunter said. I heard Fang get up and switch seats with Hunter/ Shadow shuffled in her seat. I looked back to see the emotional faces of the older half of my Flock.

Things were really starting to suck.

_Just in my mind_

_Not real life_

_I must be dreaming_

Shadow's POV

The day passed by. I could feel it passing by, even though I was trapped in my own head. Chemistry and Math was horror since I had it alone with Hunter. I could feel him shooting glances at me every so often.

This really sucked.

I could feel Fang's presence getting closer as I walked towards the Gym. Hunter was a few steps behind me.

During Lunch, Max and Hunter were dragged away by Annabell and Aaron. I could feel how hurt Fang was when Max was taken away. He thinks he did something wrong to have her avoiding him so much, but he can't figure out what.

I feel really bad for him.

I glanced at him as we passed each other in the Gym, and his eyes showed hurt as he looked ahead of him. I looked also.

Max was walking with Aaron, away from us.

Jeez. Poor brother.

I walked into the girl's locker room. The girls already there were talking loudly. I kept my head down as I passed them. Then…

I fell onto my butt as someone shoved me. My books went flying everywhere. I looked up to see who shoved me.

Annabell was standing there, fully clad in the gym uniform. A few of her friends were behind, standing there smugly. I swallowed and gathered my books, standing up…

And walking away.

That was a first for me.

Then, a force brought me falling forward onto my knees. Someone grabbed my hair and wrapped it around their fist. I hissed in anger as they yanked my head up.

I think you know who did that.

"What happened_ Isabella?_" Annabell hissed. "Did you lose all will to play now that your boyfriend is mine?" Her friends behind her snickered. I tried to block them away from my mind and Annabell shook me by my head.

"Answer me," She said through gritted teeth. She wasn't real, nobody in here was, and this is all a dream…

She growled and anger and threw me to the ground. I could hear them, all of them, walking away. I sighed and sat up. A few girls passed by me as I sat up and picked up my books. One of them stopped by me, sighed and kneeled down next to my math notebook, picking it up.

"Hey," she said. I looked at her. She had brown hair, silvery blue eyes, and pale skin. She looked like a volleyball player. I looked back down, gathering my books.

"Hey," she repeated. I gathered my books and looked at her. She was glaring at me, holding my copy of_ The Odyssey _in her hand. I went to grab the book from her but she held it behind her back. I narrowed my eyes.

"Give me my book before I punch your teeth out," I snapped. She smirked.

"Oh sure. You're going to punch me because I kept your precious book from you, but you won't punch Abigail who just threw you to the ground?" she said.

"You wanna try me?" I growled. She snorted in laughter and my hands curled into fists.

"Calm down, calm down," she said, sitting down on the ground. I glared at her. "What, you scared because she's _popular_?" I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm not scared of anybody," I said. She blinked.

"Then why'd you let her grab you like that?" she asked.

"Why are you interrogating me?" I countered. She snickered and stood up, handing me my book. I snatched it from her and her smirk widened. What I wouldn't give to smack that off her face…

"You still like that Lucas kid." She snorted. "How pathetic."

_Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic._

I curled my fist, letting the books that were in that arm fall to the ground. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Solving your problems with violence is not the way missy," she said, waving a finger in front of my face. I grabbed it and twisted it. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Do you want me to break it?" I hissed maliciously.

"No, I'm good," she whispered, pain bleeding into her voice. I let go of it and she brought it to her, glaring at me. She looked like she was about to curse me out, but then her eyes flashed and she smiled.

"You don't like that Abigail girl much, do you?" she asked. I gave her a 'No duh' look and she put her hands on her hips.

"Alright girlie, listen here," she said. "You're pretty strong and I think you should help me get what I want back. And I'll help you get what you want back."

"And who said I would help you?" I snarled.

"I just guessed that you would. If you don't want to…" she trailed off and started to walk away.

"Wait!" I said before I could stop myself. She stopped and turned to me, returning to her stupid stance.

"Alright then, glad you see it my way," Annoying girl said. "Now, you have the brawn and I have everything else. We'll meet later on during Chorus-you have Chorus with me-and talk about our little plan against Abigail. Oh, and don't tell anyone I even _spoke _to you." She started to walk out.

"Two things," I called out. She stopped in place. "What do you have against Abigail?"

"She stole my popularity," she said, running her hand through her hair. I rolled my eyes. Of course.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Betty," she said and left. I sighed, picked up my books and went to my locker. I started to turn my combination. I opened it.

And my gym uniform was gone.

I hadn't packed it in my bag this morning.

"Shit," I hissed. I stomped out of the locker room and slammed the door behind me. The teacher looked at me, a disproving look already on her face.

"I don't have clothes," I mumbled. She shook her head in annoyance and pointed to the "unprepared wall." Where all the kids who don't have their gym uniform are located. Joy.

I sat down and opened one of my books. I took out a pencil and just started scribbling on the page. I stared at every line that I made. I wasn't good at drawing like Cass was. She could draw like…wow. And Lies was a dancer. A break-dancer to be more specific. Ghost was really good with most string instruments, including guitar, which he surpassed me at. Chris was one of those people who connect with everybody. She loved peer mediation and debate team. Hunter-it hurt to think of him-was a pianist, and got along with mostly everybody he met.

But I was nothing.

"Shadow?" I jumped at my real name use. I looked to my right and saw Hunter. I tried to hide my surprise and glared at him.

"Excuse me?" I said. I saw Annabell staring at us from the other side of the gym.

"Shadow, I want to talk to you," he said.

"Good for you," was my snarky response. The girl on my left snickered.

"Shadow," Hunter said in a low voice. "I'm sorry, but things happened."

"Define_ things_," I hissed. He looked away.

"I…can't tell you," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course you can't. You just looked at Anna-Abigail afterschool yesterday and fell in love with her. And then in the middle of our date, I find out. You can't explain it to me, but I can explain it to you. What the hell-?" I shut my mouth when of Annabell's cronies passed by. Hunter just sat there, staring at something. I followed his line of eye sight to see.

Oh my gosh.

What a-

Oh gosh.

"Can't keep your eyes off of your girlfriend?" I snarled. Hunter blinked and looked at me. His eyes widened.

"What?"

"Oh don't play stupid with me," I said standing up. "You know what, I don't care. Go stare at your girlfriend. Just leave me ALONE!" I whirled around to stomp away, when a hand wrapped around my ankle. I looked down to see who's arm the hand was connected to, so I can at least know what the person looked like before ripping their arm off.

"Isabella, sit down," Hunter said calmly. I tried to pull my leg away from him.

"Shade..." Hunter warned. I narrowed my eyes at him.Did he just call me _Shade?_ What the HELL?

_"Shade?_ What the hell do you mean by_ Shade?_ My name is NOT Shade!" I seethed. He sent me this 'let's sit down and talk' look. I sucked my teeth and sat down.

"Tell me and tell me now before I_ leave_," I growled. Wow. I had sounded so angry at him. But…I'm not. I'm angry at myself for not standing up to him when I found out about Annabell. I'm angry at myself for not taking a stand. I'm supposed to be indifferent to all of this, to_ everybody._ I'm not supposed to_ care_ if someone breaks up with me. I didn'tcare this much when Ghost broke up with me.

But Ghost wasn't my best friend in the whole world.

"I don't _want_ to hurt you. I _didn't_ want to hurt you. I didn't _mean_ to hurt you. It was the complete opposite. I wanted to _help _you…" Hunter looked to the ground and looked back up.

"I don't want this to be constant between us."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't want there to be…tension-between us," he said. I looked to the ground.

"So, I'm thinking of there being a deal," I looked back at him. He was looking at the ceiling, a smile on his face. He was always the optimist. I was the pessimist.

Whoa.

I can't believe I didn't notice this before. I looked him over, then myself.

_We were opposites._

He was the optimistic, blond, golden eyed, wound-up, male, mostly happy, social person. I was the pessimistic, black-haired, silver eyed, laid back, female, mostly depressed, not very social person.

Opposites attract in science, not people.

I can't even believe that I even _thought_ I_ had_ a chance.

"I think we can make this work," Hunter said, building himself up._ No we can't,_ I thought mournfully.

"We can just go on friendly outings with each other. Not as boyfriend and girlfriend or anything like that. Just as the really good friends that we are," he looked up smiling at me. "What do you think?"

Should I tell him my realization?

Should I tell him that this was hopeless?

No.

I should just keep everything to myself.

It was just better that way.

Emotionless Shadow was never hurt. When I let anyone in my head, they hurt me.

No one's going to come in and hurt me. Not anymore.

"Sure Hunter," I said, plastering a fake smile on my face. Something told me I was going to do this a lot. "It couldn't hurt to try."

**Me: Reviews tell me that you like the story and want more…so REVIEW!**


	33. By Myself

**Me: Alright, time for the next chap. I don't own Maximum Ride**** or By Myself by Linkin Park****. I own my characters. Thanks to FangWannabe, Nathaniel773, MiMiandDiDi, aviator301, ShaeShae96, LOL-ninjas-stole-my-homework, Demon of the Rising Dark, pepper66, Flame-Taw, maxridefan95, shadowytwilight, rosieweasely, ilovetwilight99, Acey808, golden-clawed-angel, NorahJones, alamodie, brebreisme, ravenluv3r, A being from the Unknown (cough FlamingFlie), duudezilla, Maggie (this is a pseudonym), Pyromaniac-Girl, Da****isyPinker,**** something-long-and-complicated****, and S.L. Michaels**** for reviewing. **

**Chapter 33: By Myself**

Fang's POV

What was with Max? Why was she hanging out with Aaron? And why was she avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?

Unless saying Good Morning to a person is now an insult, I really don't think I've done anything wrong to her.

I sighed as I walked into the house. I could feel Shadow downstairs with someone else, discussing something. I got a flash of Ghost and relaxed. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. It's not that she can't take care of herself, but still. She needs someone right now. And Ghost seems like a good friend who would support her.

I dropped my back pack onto the floor and got a sandwich from the refrigerator. I sat down at the table, chewing slowly and thinking.

I knew what was in Shadow's head and her past. Most of it anyways. The point was Hunter is her best friend. Sorta like how I was with Max. Actually, VERY how much I was with Max. Hunter wouldn't just pop out nowhere with Annabell and say 'This is my girlfriend'. Because, I've known Max, their personalities are similar, and Max wouldn't do that.

But then what was she doing with Aaron today?

Ugh, this is annoying! I need more information on this!

The door slammed and I heard Aaron say "Nice house."

All my senses ran to high alert. This was not good.

Should I let them know I'm here? Or should I just stay quiet? Every one of my instincts pointed to getting Max and asking her what the matter is, but something told me to just stay here, and let things go the way they should, to just go with the flow.

I clasped my hands together and closed my eyes, concentrating on just hearing.

"So Max," Aaron said.

"Yes?"

"What should we watch on television?"

"Your choice."

"But c'mon Max. This is our _date_."

My eyes snapped open. What the hell did he mean by _date_? Max said she would give us a try!

_She only said she'd give you a try. She never said anything about being your _permanent _girlfriend, _my annoying common sense said.

It was right. She never _did_ say anything like that.

I could hear Aaron's laughing in the next room and Max's sighing. Hissing ensued but I covered my ears. I heard enough.

_What do I do to ignore them behind me?_

I want to go to the living room, and catch them. But there was this part of me that didn't want to go see them, that wanted to pretend that everything was okay.

And there was another part of me that was screaming '_Just give up, Max does NOT like you in other way but as a brother.'_

_Do I follow my instincts blindly?_

_Do I hide my pride from these bad dreams?_

_And give into sad thoughts that are maddening?_

_Do I sit here and try to stand it?_

_Or do I try to catch them red-handed?_

I felt like asking Shadow to ask Hunter for me, since they were both downstairs and came to a truce. But what if he's in on it too? What if my own SISTER is in on it?

_In on what? _Shadow's voice rang in my head. I blocked her out. I needed to sort this out first. _Well, that's just RUDE, _she sent.

If I can't trust the closest people around me, Iggy, Hunter, my sister, MAX, then I can't trust anyone. And I'll just be me, by myself. Alone.

_Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness,_

_Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness?_

I don't understand what's going on. Max and I is one problem. Then I can feel the emotional stress on Shadow's side. And I can feel my own paranoia getting to me, since last time, going to school had been such a _success_.

It was all becoming too much.

I try to just let everything flow, but I feel like something else is happening, something that none of us is seeing. It's like we're sitting ducks.

I haven't told Max this yet, and Shadow doesn't know either. I just go on, like everything is just fine and dandy. And look what's happening now because of that.

_Because I can't hold on when I'm stretched so thin_

_I make the right moves but I'm lost within_

_I put on my daily façade but then_

_I just end up getting hurt again_

_By myself (myself)_

It's all my fault.

_I ask why, but in my mind _

_I find I can't rely on myself_

_I ask why, but in my mind_

_I find I can't rely on myself_

I don't understand what's happening to me. Usually, I would just march in there and ask Max what the problem was but I feel like if I do that, I'll collapse. Maybe it's just because I feel Shadow's pain and my own from the day? Maybe I just need to take a nap or something…

What am I afraid of anyways? _Of more rejection, _my common sense voice said. _You're afraid she'll reject you just like she did in the cave, except this time, she'll have an audience. Her new boyfriend._

_I can't hold on_

_To what I want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To an__ything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

I ran my hand through my hair and clenched a piece of it. This was aggravating. I didn't want to just let Max and Aaron go on with what they're doing. That would be stupid of me. But I just don't know what to do yet.

_If I__ t__urn my back I'm defenseless_

_And to go blindly seems senseless_

_If I hide my pride and let it all go on then they'll_

_Take from me 'till everything is gone_

_If I let them go I'll be outdone_

_But if I try to catch them I'll be outrun_

So many questions were floating through my head, and I don't even know how to answer one of them. It's slowly killing me.

_If I'm killed by the questions like a cancer_

_Then I'll be buried in the silence of the answer_

_By myself (myself)_

I let my head fall onto the table. They say your brain can't hurt because they're no neurons on the brain to send signals of pain. And yet still, my brain was hurting.

_I ask why but in my mind _

_I find I can't rely on myself_

_I ask why but in my mind_

_I find I can't rely on myself_

_Fang, what's wrong?_ Shadow asked in my head. I blocked her again. She didn't need to know.

_I can't hold on_

_To what I __want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To an__ything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

If I'm rejected by Max again, the person I've known for most of my life…then…

I don't know what will happen.

Maybe it'd be better if I detach myself first.

Yes, that's for the better.

I'll lose Max, but not totally.

_How do you think I've lost so much?_

_I'm so afraid that I'm out of touch_

"Fang, is that you?" I heard Max call.

"No," I called back. Wait…what the hell is wrong with me?!

_How do you expect…that I know what to do_

_When all I know__ is what you tell me to?_

Max walked in, staring at me like I've finally lost it. Maybe I have.

"Fang, are you okay?" Max asked. I turned away from her and heard a door slam. I felt my sister come closer until she was standing right in front of me. Her eyes asked everything. _What's wrong with you?_

I don't even know anymore. I don't know anything anymore.

_Don't you know?_

_I c__an't tell you how to make it go_

_No m__atter what I do, how hard I try_

_I ca__n't seem to convince myself why_

_I'm stuck on the outside_

"I'm fine," was my robotic response.

"He's lying," Shadow's voice came out like steel. I looked at her. **Listen, **_**I**_** don't even know what I'm feeling right now. Don't rat me OUT.**

Shadow continued to stare at me. _Then what happened?_

I sighed, knowing she wouldn't give up. **Aaron and Max, that's what's wrong.**

Shadow looked up then to me. _Are you serious? That can't be…_

**I'm not joking. Aaron's here now.**

She looked straight at me. _WHAT?_

I winced.

"What are you guys talking about?" Max asked annoyed.

_Don't you know?_

_I c__an't tell you how to make it go_

_No m__atter what I do, how hard I try_

_I ca__n't seem to convince myself why_

_I'm stuck on the outside_

"Max, I need to talk to you…privately," I said, looking pointedly at Shadow. She shrugged and walked out. I knew she was going to listen in anyways.

"What's up?" she asked, leaning on the doorway casually, making my eyes narrow. Was she so blind that she could not possibly _fathom_ what the hell was up?

_I can't hold on_

_To what I __want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To an__ything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

"Do you seriously don't get what's going on?" I asked her.

"No, I know everything because I just developed mind-reading powers. I'm just asking you what's the matter and acting concern for kicks," Max said, crossing her arms. I narrowed my eyes. Her sarcasm was not amusing.

"Ha funny," I said, anger bleeding into my voice. Max's eyebrow went up. "Did it ever occur to you that you're my problem?"

I know I'm going to regret this later.

"Excuse me?" Max hissed. "And what did _I_ do?"

"Well, you didn't even warn me. Don't worry Max; I'm used to rejection from you. I can take it again," I hissed maliciously. Yep, I'm really going to regret this later.

Max's face showed pure confusion. "What?"

"Listen Max, I just think I'd be better off if you told me straight out. You don't like me anymore. It's over," I said, running a hand through my hair. Max's eyes widened.

"What? When did I say that?"

"You minus well have. Your date with Aaron, you hanging him all day. Just say it," I said, sighing in defeat. There's no sense in hanging onto something that's already flown away.

"Fang, you don't under-" I held my hand up, cutting her off.

"It's okay Max. Just…be happy," I said. I looked at her big brown eyes and walked past her out the door.

"WAIT!" I heard her scream.

"No, he's not leaving for good, jus…" Shadow's voice faded as I jumped and took off, losing myself somewhere in the purple sky.

_I can't hold on_

_To what I __want when I'm stretched so thin_

_It's all too much to take in_

_I can't hold on_

_To an__ything watching everything spin_

_With thoughts of failure sinking in_

Epsilon's POV

I smirked as Shadow grabbed Max from behind and tried to calm her down. Hunter came up the stairs with Annabell. I sent her thumbs up and she smiled.

Everything was going to plan.

They were all separated and ready to conquer.

**Me: Review please…not my best chap I know, but please review…**


	34. Surprise!

**Me: Update time! I don't own Maximum Ride, I own my characters blah ****blah****blah****. Thanks to ****FangWannabe****, ShaeShae96, ravenluv3r, Gabriel Wolfe, aviator301, S.L. Michaels, obsessed-book-lover531, Nathaniel773, Kathy, jess, Demon of the Rising Dark, ranbowriter96, LOL-ninjas-stole-my-homework, Iggy-Addict, ****DaisyPinker****, ilovetwilight99, ****NorahJones****, Flame-Taw, ****bibliocrazed****, Pyromaniac-Girl, ****shadowytwilight****Jesus-Freak2142, ****brebreisme**** Killerbat91****, and ****jeperd**** for reviewing.**

**And dear ****dear**** orange flavored grapes, even though I doubt you're reading this because it gives you a '****headake****' (What is that anyways, ****care**** to enlighten me?****I looked it up in ****dictionary(****com**** and it told me ****Haiduk****. So this story gave you a**** male servant or attendant dressed in semi military Hungarian costume****? That doesn't sound right…d****o you mean headache?****Because then I'll know what you are talking about. What is an ****Ug**** also? ****Did you mean ****Ug**** as in abbreviation for universal grammar? Or d****id you mean Ugh as an expression of disgust? That's a word in the English language, not ****Ug****. But I guess you're to busy making up your own words to notice this is a DRAMA/ROMANCE story. If drama gives you a '****headake****' then you shouldn't read it. And since you so desired it the plot of this part of the story is the Flock getting separated,**** slowly. That's what's ****happening. That is the story line for thi****s part of the story. So no****, I didn't 'sorta lose the plot' that's**** what this part of the story**** is about.**

**Thank you for using the anonymous review system! Your cowardice was greatly appreciated!**

**Sorry everybody else who had to hear this,**** but the person who sent that didn't leave a return address. Now let's get on with the story.**

**Chapter 34:**** Surprise!**

Shadow's POV

Breakfast was really something.

We had Angel trying to hack into my mind and sometimes Fang's until Max warned her to stop. The Gasman would sneak looks at one of us to try to figure out how we were feeling at that second. Then there was Nudge, looking like she was about to explode with the amount of questions she had. Iggy kept swirling his food around on his plate, and Ella chided him every so often to eat. I wasn't really all that hungry and neither was Fang, so we weren't eating anything. Max looked like she was going to order us to eat, but thought better of it. Hunter took a bite out of his food every so often, and he swirled around the contents of his cereal bowl. Then there was Total rubbing against out legs every so often for scraps.

Dr. Martinez and Jeb looked bewildered at our sudden change.

"What's wrong with you kids?" Dr. Martinez asked, in what I recognized as Max's no nonsense tone.

Max sighed. "Nothing Mom."

"You know you could tell us anything, right?" Jeb said concern in his voice.

"Yeah Dad, we know," Hunter said, continuing to swirl his cereal. Dr. Martinez and Jeb exchanged a look and continued to eat their own food.

I sighed and got up; giving my whole breakfast to Total and I grabbed my backpack, walking outside. It was a bit chilly outside, but I had to take my sweater off anyways, in order to fly to school. I heard leaves crunching next to me. I looked and saw my brother. He spread his wings and took off. I jumped after him.

I knew he wanted me to be silent, but I couldn't stand him feeling like how I was feeling right now.

"Are you doing better?" I asked. Fang shot me a glance and stood silent, irritating me.

"Am I talking to a flying wall here? I asked if you're doing better, not if you're okay. If I asked if you were okay, then you can shoot me an 'are you _stupid_?' glance," I ranted to him. He sent me a strange look as if I had lost the rest of my mind. I glared at him and he sighed.

"I'm doing a bit better from last night, are you happy now?" he said.

"Very much thank you. You made my dark world brighter with your jackass attitude. That's why I love you big brother," I said sarcasm dripping off my every word.

"I love you too," Fang said quietly. I rolled my eyes and we started to land in the back of the school. When we landed, Fang brushed himself off and put his sweater on, as if he didn't just fly to school. I did the same and we walked to the front of the school.

"Hey!" I jumped at the sound of that voice. I looked to see Betty coming towards us with two friends.

"Made a friend?" Fang asked.

"Yo Isabella, where were you during chorus?" she said.

"I left early," I said. It was the complete truth. I did leave early, mostly to talk to Ghost.

"Oh well, I guess we're gonna have to discuss business now," Betty said, putting her arm around me. I stiffened at the contact and she laughed.

"Don't like people touching you?" she chuckled. I glared at her and she took her arm back. At that moment, it seemed like she finally noticed Fang.

"And who are you?" she asked.

"He's my brother, Alexander," I said.

"The boy can't speak for himself?" Betty asked.

"The girl can't shut up?" I retorted though she didn't seem to notice.

"So…who do you know in this school?" Betty asked Fang. He shrugged and I snickered.

"Quiet one, aren't you? I like…" she trailed off, looking him up and down. I resisted the urge to barf and Fang stepped back from her, clearly uncomfortable. She laughed.

"Oh you don't have to worry about me," she turned around, her two drones following her. "_Yet_. See you later Bell!"

I exchanged a look with Fang. That seemed more like a threat than anything.

_Not what it seems_

_Not what you think_

_I must be dreaming_

The day passed by relatively quickly. Hunter and I made small conversation; things between us seemed to be too awkward _still._

Then came Chorus class.

I hadn't really been to the class. The teacher had been absent for 2 weeks, so I sorta skipped the class. Flying is way more interesting then seeing a substitute teacher trying to hold a class together. But now that the teacher was back, I should get to the class.

I walked into the classroom. Almost all the seats were taken…except for one.

"Bell! Over here!" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I scanned the room one more time to see if there were any other seats.

That's when I spotted Annabell and Aaron smirking as they watched me enter the classroom.

_Crap!_ I thought, and desperately remembered everyone else's schedules. I was in in Chorus alone…

"Are you DEAF Bell?" Betty shouted-whispered.

"Why me?" I muttered as I walked to the seat next to Betty and sat down.

**Because torturing you is very entertaining, **Fang said in my mind.

_Shut up Fang._

"My name is not Bell. It's Isabella," I hissed at Betty. She shrugged.

"Bell, Isa_bell_a, same difference," Betty said. The late bell rang and the teacher stood up from her desk gracefully.

"Hello class, sorry for my absence, I've had the flu," the teacher said. "Now, for today's lesson…"

I started to space out and the room slowly became glazed over until-

"Isabella Martinez? Abigail Janssen? Can you please come to the front of the room please?" the teacher said. I sighed and stood up from my desk.

"Trip her," Betty said in between gritted teeth. I shot her a look and walked to the front of the room. Annabell stood next to me.

"Hello, I'm Ms. Nye and welcome to Choral class! This is a wonderful class blah blah blah," for what seemed like the hundredth time today, the teacher started speaking nonsense. I rubbed my eyes and tried to concentrate on what she was saying.

"Good thing you came before the winter concert, because this class gets pretty hectic as the date comes near. Just go back to your seats and everyone else! Stand up we have some warming up to do!" Ms Nye said, clapping her hands. I turned around and walked back to my seat.

"Why didn't you do anything to her Bell? She's just strutting around like she owns the place!" Betty exclaimed. I leaned on my desk, crossing my arms.

"That's exactly what she wants me to do. To provoke her, so she can do something else and seem like Miss. Innocent. That's not how it works._ I'm_ going to wait till she makes her move so I can make mine, plain and simple," I said. I can't believe I'm actually telling Betty my plan. She can be Annabell's spy, for goodness sakes!

Betty seemed to think about it. "Nice plan Bell, I like." She shuffled her feet and turned back to me. "Hey, can you meet me in the Gym afterschool? And bring your brother too, the more the merrier." I narrowed my eyes.

"But why?"

"For business sakes," she answered.

_Just in my mind _

_Not real life_

_I must be dreaming_

"Why are we coming again?" Fang asked. We walked down the hallway to the Gym. It was only a bit crowded, since most kids left the building to get to the school bus.

"Because I said I would come," I answered. He nodded and opened the door of the Gym, holding it open for me. I stepped in and he came in behind me.

The Gym seemed oddly foreboding. The lights were off, and the only light was streaming through the windows on the ceiling. The light illuminated the dust particles that flew in the air.

"Betty!" I called. No answer. I stepped in cautiously and called again. "Betty!"

"I think we should leave," Fang said.

_I think you should shut up,_ I said in my head. I could feel him glaring at the back of my neck and I walked to the center of the room. I looked around and caught someone flitting through the bleachers.

"Ha. You're very funny Betty. You were going to jump out and try to scare the crap out of me when I checked the bleachers, weren't you?" I walked over to the bleachers and peeked under. All I saw was dust floating and bars supporting the bleachers criss-crossing each other. I sighed angrily through gritted teeth.

"Come ou-"

"Boo!" I straightened up and stared at the person in front of me. I would've thought it was Betty, if this person wasn't male.

"Shadow move-ooph!" I looked in his direction to see him being kicked in the head by the person I was just searching for.

"What the hell? Fang!" I yelled. I went to run in his direction but then I felt my head being yanked backwards and Omega's death grip on my hair.

"Got'cha."

**Me: Review!**


	35. Another String

**Me: SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. I don't own Maximum Ride, I do own my characters. Now for the chapter.**

**Chapter 35: Another String**

Shadow's POV

I cannot believe I was in this position.

The position being, tied up and hanging upside down from the ceiling beams in the gymnasium in my high school.

It was not fun, to say the least.

Omega and Betty were below me and Fang, pacing back and forth, discussing the fate of us with one another. Omega looked up and waved. I rolled my eyes and looked toward Fang. He was trying to untie the ropes that bound his wrist. I sighed and looked straight ahead. Life was sucking really badly right now.

"Shadow, why aren't you trying to get out of the ropes?" Fang hissed through gritted teeth.

"There's no point anymore," I answered. He turned his head and stared at me.

"What do you mean, 'there is no point?" Fang asked.

"No matter what we do, they'll get us somehow," I said, my voice sounding as dead as I felt inside.

Fang stared at me and sighed.

"You can't give up," he said. "If I lose you as well then-"

"How touching. A brother-sister pep talk. Oops! I didn't mean to interrupt. Are you getting this on film Beta?" Omega said, turning to the Betty. Ah. They're named after the Greek alphabet. How…clever.

"Nope, I'm memorizing it. It's just as good," she said smugly. I rolled my eyes.

"Enough with the crap ass mocking! Tell us what you want from us," I yelled. I heard Omega chuckling.

"So hasty to learn of your doom, Shadow dear?" he teased. I resisted the urge to kill him and stared straight at him. He turned to Beta. "These two just don't know the meaning of humor." Fang and I did what we do best. Stared and quietly seethed.

Beta sighed as if it were as tragic as her dog getting run over. "It seems so, brother."

They're related.

Now, why the hell is everyone becoming related all of a freaking sudden. Next thing I find out is that me and Hunter are really 1st cousins.

I hope not. That would be beyond creepy.

Omega took a vial of liquid out of his pocket. He stared at it, smirking, then looked up at me. "Do you know what this is?"

"No or else I probably would've gasped in shock at your villainy and screamed a curse at you and tried to get out of these ropes," I said, keeping boredom in my voice. Omega's smirk fell off his face.

"You obviously don't or else you would be treating this situation more carefully," Omega shot back.

"Not like your helping with the professionalism with all the mocking," I retorted.

"Shut up Shadow!" Beta yelled.

"You shut up you wench! You were on Annabell's side all along!"

"Yes, your point being?"

"Be quiet, both of you!" Omega yelled. I closed my mouth and she shot me a dirty look.

"What do you want from us Omega?" Fang said very calmly. Omega held up the vial, mostly in my direction.

"This, Shadow deary, is what I call an avian version of pesticide," he said, smirking. "As you probably already know every birdie has their own special pesticide. And guess who this one is for?"

"Me?" I said, keeping my voice bored. "If it's mine and you're planning to kill me with it, then shoot, go ahead, I don't give a crap."

"Awww, don't be so conceited Shadow, it's not yours," Omega said. "It's Hunty boys'!"

I felt my eye widen as I stared at Omega. "What?"

"It's Hunter's."

Silence blanketed the Gym.

"Give it to me," I said, making my voice steely. Omega and Beta started laughing as I just said to punch line to the best joke in the world.

"Y-You are in no _position_-" Omega started laughing again and my eyes narrowed. He regained his composure. "You are in no position to be making demands."

"What do you want?" I growled, narrowing my eyes. I am going to kill him. I am going to kill him. I am SO going to KILL HIM.

"You…on my side," Omega said, smiling. "You work for me for a bit, and I'll set Hunter live out his birdie years."

"Go show Fang the Erasers in the forest," Beta said to Omega. Omega flew up and hovered near Fang. He was holding a little screen and on the top it said 'Live Feed'

It showed a whole bunch of Erasers in our backyard.

"Oh shit," Fang slipped.

"Massive understatement," I said.

"You work like your sister, and they will leave," Beta called.

I looked at Fang for an answer.

"You either answer now. You work for us and all you hold dear will be safe. You don't and all you hold dear will be destroyed," Beta said, her voice malicious.

"It's very simple…now what is your choice?" Omega said.

* * *

Max's POV

"Where have you two been?" I said, as soon as Fang and Shadow walked through the door. My eyebrow went up when I noticed that they looked like they've been to hell and back. They walked up the stairs, ignoring me.

"Excuse me. He-llo. I'm talking to you two. Do not walk away from me," I yelled, keeping a commanding tone in my voice. They continued to walk up the stairs. I exchanged a look with Hunter who peeked out the kitchen to see what was going on.

_What do you think is wrong with them?_

**If I knew, I would've told you.**

I rolled my eyes and huffed in frustration. _Why can't anything ever be simple?!_

**Because it's our life.**

_Your positive thoughts fill me with absolute hope._

**You're welcome.**

I shot Hunter and look and walked upstairs. He trailed behind me and I could feel his hesitance. We walked all the way to their bedrooms and looked at the doors.

_You take Fang and I'll take Shadow._

**Yes ma'am!**

…_I'll smack you later._

I knocked on Shadow's door and called her name.

"What?" she answered.

"I want to talk to you," I said, sounding a bit like Dr. Phil.

"I'm sorry Max, but I'm busy. Can you come back a little later?" the politeness sounded really strained. And anyways, since when does Shadow address anyone politely unless she's trying to get away with something?

She's trying to get away with something.

"What did you do?" I said, keeping my voice stern.

"Nothing! God Max, leave me alone!" she shouted.

There's the Shadow we all know and love.

"You better come down for dinner," I warned. She didn't respond. I looked at Hunter as he banged on Fang's door. Fang wasn't responding.

"Shadow!" I called. "Where's Fang?"

"I don't know, I'm not his keeper," she snapped. I felt a bit angry but breathed it down.

"Can you at least locate him?" I said.

"I'm busy." Now I was getting really irritated. Irritated Max equals no good.

"What the hell are you doing anyways?!" I snapped.

"None of your business," she replied curtly, setting me off.

"_I_ am the Leader of this Flock. _I _need to know where one of my members is and you _will_ tell me where he is," I growled.

"Well, I can't tell you so take your little leader speech and _shove it_," Shadow shouted. I gasped and my anger flared.

"That's IT Shadow, I've HAD it. I'm coming into your room RIGHT NOW," I yelled.

"And how will you do that without a key?" Shadow taunted.

"Oh, you know," I hissed. I backed up a few steps and kicked the door with all my might. It fell down.

Shadow was sitting on her bed, arms crossed and smirking.

Omega was right next to her, wearing an identical smirk.

"What the hell?!" Hunter exclaimed next to me. Shadow let out a laugh that chilled me.

"What's so surprising Hunty-boy?" she said.

"What is he doing here?!" Hunter yelled, pointing at Omega.

"I'm taking Shadow home, and there's nothing you can do about it," Omega said, grabbing Shadow's wrist securely.

"Where's Fang?"

"Already on the way," Shadow said, smiling deviously. My stomach dropped at the betrayal of Fang. _He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't, he wouldn't… _

**I know.**

"This makes no sense…" Hunter trailed off.

"It makes perfect sense to me Hunter, but we all know how slow you are. You'll get it over time," Omega said. Hunter glared at Omega then scanned Shadow. She shifted uncomfortably. Hunter's frown turned into a smile.

"You're acting," he said. "You're pretending to be on Omega's side."

"Whatever floats your boat Hunter," Shadow said, the tone of her voice flat. Hunter's smile faded.

**She's acting, I know it.**

_How do you know?_

**I know her better then I know myself.**

"Let us go doll. My sister and your brother should be getting mighty impatient," Omega said. I felt anger but I knew it wasn't mine.

"She's not a doll. She's a living person," Hunter growled, stepping forward. I could see Omega's grasp on Shadow's wrist tighten but he laughed.

"You haven't treated her like one," he shot back. Hunter froze and Omega snickered. Shadow look distant and slowly, her frown turned into a smile. Omega went alert and his finger pressed against his ear.

"WHAT?!" I saw his face scrunch up and his nails dig into Shadow's wrist. My stomach dropped. "THEN CONTROL IT…how? USE FORCE…SHOOT HIM!"

"NO!" I screamed. Shadow's eyes widened and she screamed, her whole body convulsing. Hunter rushed at Omega, ready to take him down. Faster than I could track, Omega picked Shadow up and held her in front of him, using her as a shield. Hunter stopped himself in time, his fist just centimeters away from Shadow's face. I heard footsteps rushing from behind me. I whirled around to see Iggy and Ella running up, followed by Nudge.

"What's going on?!" Iggy yelled. "I heard Omega's voice."

"He's here, he has Shadow hostage," Ella said, breathless.

"You dumb bitch, I should kill your little boyfriend right now," Omega hissed in Shadow's ear. Sweat was on her brow as she held her stomach. Her face was screwed up in pain and she was gasping for air. Omega continued speaking. "But I have what we need so we'll just leave and I'll think of a punishment for you later. Say goodbye to your friends' doll, you'll never see them again."

"No!" Hunter exclaimed, but it was too late. Hunter threw down a light bomb and we were blinded. When our vision cleared, they were gone.

**Me: Alright, review please :)**


	36. Some Other Twist in the Road

**Me: All I'm going to say is that homework ate me, I camped out in its stomach for a while and I finally got out. Yay! ******** I do not own Maximum Ride. I own my characters :D**

**Chapter 36: First Mission**

Shadow's POV

"Do you know that website where everyone writes how much their life sucks?" I said, holding my legs closer to my chest. Fang nodded in acknowledgment, his eyes trained to the ground. "Well, I think we beat them." Fang held out his hand and I high fived him and sighed.

We were in a big white windowless room that was just blank. Just a plain old blank white room. And I couldn't even run into the wall or anything, because then it'd just zap me and that would be stupid. Even though running headfirst into a wall isn't a great idea to begin with.

"Can I-" I started to say.

"No pacing. I am sick of your pacing. Stop. Pacing," Fang said, his voice stiff.

"Alright! Don't get spicy," I said. Fang gave me a strange look.

"Spicy?"

"New slang."

"Where do you get this stuff from?"

"I don't want you stealing my terms!"

"No one wants your corny terms."

"They're not corny, they're amazing and you're hating."

"I'm hating?...You're never using the Internet again."

"See? There's total hateration coming from you. Hater," I said. There was silence in the room and I could see a ghost of a smirk on Fang's face. It got too quiet when we talked via our minds.

I heard two knocks. Fang and I exchanged a look and stiffened up. It was probably Omega or something, and we weren't going to let them catch us off guard.

As we predicted, Omega and Beta walked in along with another girl that had the same facial features as them, but she had white-blonde hair and light eyes.

"I'm Alpha," she said, noticing Fang's wary staring at her.

"Oh great, the beginning, the ending and the weird ugly thing in the middle," I said, blowing my bangs out of my eyes. Beta glared at me and then a devilish smile spread across her face.

"I can't wait till your skin is my rug!" She hissed. I chuckled and looked at Fang.

"And you called me corny," I said. Omega rolled his eyes.

"Will you two stop bickering for five minutes?" Omega said.

"Yeah. That'll stop when you stop being such a pain in the ass," I muttered. Of course, Super boy with super hearing heard me. Omega glared at me.

"Why are you here?" Fang cut in.

"Well, we're sending you on your first mission," Omega said. Beta carefully scanned our faces for any reaction.

"I'd be more enthusiastic about it if I wasn't sent here against my will," I spat.

"Also since it wasn't a part of the deal," Fang added, glaring.

"Yeah, well, things didn't go quite according to plan," Omega said.

"Oh whatever, we're the bad guys, deals don't matter in the first place," Beta said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"That's because you're a classless criminal," I said. "See your brother over there knows what he's doing."

"Oh shut up!" Beta said, kicking me. Before her foot made contact with my ribcage, I grabbed it and twisted it so she fell face first onto the ground.

"Ah ha stupid!" I gloated. Then, Alpha grabbed my head and slammed it against the wall.

Everything went black.

-

Max's POV

"This is your entire fucking fault Hunter! I hope you fucking know that!" Ghost yelled.

"Calm the fuck down Lies!" Chris yelled, grabbing Ghost's shoulder and sitting him down in the living room couch.

"What's with all the cussing? Like, really? Do we need such strong ugly words?" Lies said.

"You of all people saying that? Ha," Iggy said drily.

"It was a joke. Laugh," Lies said. I felt something in me snap and slammed my fist on the table.

"Everyone needs to BE QUIET. Ghost, stop blaming Hunter already, he feels guilty enough and it's not helping with ANYTHING. Lies, your comic relief is not helping right now, though I'd appreciate it at a later time. Now, we need ideas to get them back, any ideas people?" I said, raising my voice over everyone. Angel timidly came forward.

"Max, Omega had blackmailed Shadow and Fang into "joining" him, I don't know with what though."

I stiffened and ruffled her golden curls. "Good job Angel, thank you." I thought about Epsilon and then looked at Hunter.

_Did Annabell say anything to you about this._

**I asked her and she just said that she had nothing to do with it so our deal isn't voided.**

_Ugh. Great, this makes me day._

**Tell me about it.**

Nudge started babbling. "Really Max, what should we do? I'm really worried about them. Like, what if they were brought back to the School or used as target practice for Erasers or-"

"You cannot think like that Nudge," Cass said quietly. "Negative thoughts lead to poor health."

"Negative ideas is usually what happens to us," Iggy muttered.

"Okay, knowing Omega, he probably did bring Fang and Shadow to the School, let's start from there," Hunter said, regaining his voice. Ghost muttered something and Chris smacked the back of his head.

"Just shut the hell up already! You're not fucking helping anyone right now," Chris growled. Ghost shot her a dirty look, bit his lip and stared at the floor.

"If they got sent to the School, there's no saving them," someone at the doorway said. I looked to see Annabell leaning across the doorframe.

"Oh shut up! No one cares what you think!" Ghost yelled across the room.

"Aww, the little emo is sad, someone hand him a guitar," Annabell said in a baby voice. I rolled my eyes and Hunter glared at her. Ghost stomped across the room and slammed the door in her face.

"Why is that leech still in this house?! She probably helped Omega in the first place!" Ghost said, kicking the door.

"She didn't," Hunter said quickly.

"Oh, she did it because she loves you so much and would never do such a thing, eh Cunter?!" Ghost yelled. "Reality check, SHE WOULD."

"Seriously Ghost, chill the fuck out, you're such a downer," Lies said. Ghost growled, turned around and slammed the door as he stalked out the room. Hunter slid into a chair and groaned.

**He is right. It is my fault and everyone here knows it.**

_No it isn't. He's just taking it out on you because he needs a scapegoat._

**His anger is a bit weird though…ugh, what are we going to do?**

_I really have no idea other than storm the place, grab them, kick ass, confront evil guy, kick more ass, come clean and then live happily ever after._

**I love that plan. Especially since the chance of us succeeding is 39%**

_Pessimist._

**No, it's called being rational.**

"So what are we going to do?" the Gasman said, a bit of hopelessness in his voice. It almost broke my heart to hear it.

"Well, we're going to the-"

All the bird kids heard the back door slamming and heavy feet running. I jumped out of my seat and at the same time, Ghost practically _flew_ through the door.

"GUYS! GUYS! THEY'RE IN THE FOREST, HELP ME GET THEM!" Ghost yelled and ran back out. My eyes widened and I ran right after him out the door.

It was dark outside but Ghost knew exactly where he was going. He ran straight into the forest and turned toward a little stream. And on the stream bank were two unconscious bird kids, both in ripped dark clothing and looking seriously injured. Hunter and Iggy rushed past me and turned both Fang and Shadow onto their backs.

"She looks really badly hurt," Hunter said.

"Fang too…this is a little suspicious, why would Omega just leave them here? It doesn't make that much sense," Iggy said. I took into account what Iggy said but then pushed it to the back of my head.

"It doesn't matter right now. Angel, I was you to rush back into the house and tell Jeb. Iggy and Hunter, pick them up carefully and bring them back to the house. Quickly now, we don't know how long they've been outside," I ordered. Angel ran back to the house and super speed. Hunter delicately scooped up Shadow into his arms and walked fast toward the house. Iggy put one of Fang's arms around his shoulder and I put his other arm around my shoulder. We walked quickly to the house. The Gasman and Nudge ran ahead of us.

When we reached the house, Jeb was at the doorway of the basement. "Bring them downstairs."

-

"Max," I heard someone say quietly. I jolted out of bed onto my feet. Ah, my lovely reflexes are so lovely. I focused on the figure in the doorway and identified it as Jeb.

"What's going on?" I said, keeping an edge to my voice. I love sleep. Sleep is my friend. Why is he disturbing my quality sleep time?

"You told me to wake you up when Fang and Shadow are awake," he said. My eyes widened a bit and I walked through the door. I heard Hunter's room door open and he quietly trailed behind me, mostly asleep. I tried nudging him awake with my mind as we went downstairs.

"They seem to be recovering nicely. A lot of broken bones though, so try not to push them too badly for questions," Jeb said, walking away. Hunter and I walked into the room and Fang and Shadow were there, looking dazed on the hospital beds. I walked up to Fang's side and tapped the back of his hand. He looked at me, dark eyes unreadable and withdrew his hand. I bit my lip.

"How are you doing?" I asked him, keeping my voice soft. He shrugged and gestured to the rest of his body, all bandaged up.

"Yeah, I know, it sucks," I said. "Who did this to you?" Fang looked away.

"Omega," he said. "Beta, you know."

"Beta?" I said.

"Betsy, from school," Fang said. I stiffened. How many more experiments were in our school?

"Hunter, leave the room," Shadow said. I glanced over then looked at Fang.

"What's going on?" I asked. Then, a weird thing happened.

A sad expression crossed Fang's face.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," he said.

"What was?" I asked and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Over here Maximum." And there was Omega, Betsy-I mean Beta, and Epsilon.

Gosh darn.

**Me: Review! Oh, and please none saying UPDATE QUICKLY THIS TIME, because they're a real turn off for writing, not a "Oh crap, I should start writing!" Thank you =]**


	37. Separate

**Me: I'd offer an explanation for the no updateness but that'll be longer than the chapter xD Thank you for the reviews, you guys rock =] I'm really sorry about the story not being updated but I had writer's block, you know how that is =| Anyways, I don't own Maximum Ride, I own my characters. By the way, sooner or later, I'm going to change and edit the earlier chapters of the story so stay tuned for that, I'll let you know what happens :]**

**Chapter 37: Separate**

_Hunter's POV_

So here I was, tied to a chair with my sister behind me, also tied and my ex? best friend and her brother were pacing around the room, wondering what to do with us. My life could not be anymore perfect.

"It really wasn't supposed to happen like this," Fang said, glancing at us. Did I mention Max and I were gagged? As if they didn't want our genius sarcastic commentary!

"Yes, your girlfriend was supposed to save you, but she's just too stupid to do anything right," Shadow said, looking at me. She came over, looked at me casually and smacked me HARD across the face.

"I should've stayed with Ghost," She spat. I felt something in my heart open. She's given up on me.

It hurt more than the smack. Way more.

"I should've known all Max wanted to do was to play games," Fang said, shrugging. "I should've remained her servant, I guess."

"MMM!" Max protested from her gag, stomping. Shadow went over and glared at her.

"Don't make me cut your pretty little face up."

"MMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMM MMMMAHHH!" Max shouted from her gag. Shadow rolled her eyes and walked away while Fang smirked.

"Quit being a sourpuss, you can't deny that this is a little fun, watching them helpless," Fang said, his voice having a malicious edge. I stared at them. What. The. HELL was WRONG with them?!

_I'm going to kill your best friend once I get out of these._

**And I'm going to kill your right hand man!**

_Cool, we'll be even then._

Shadow eyed us and then smirked, "You're wondering what's wrong with us. There's nothing wrong. We just saw the light of what Itex is doing."

**She's totally fucking with us. She has to be.**

_Maybe Itex did a lobotomy or something._

"You don't understand yet. But you will," Fang said. Shadow opened the door and Annabell and Omega walked in. Annabell looked over me and glared at Shadow.

"Why is there a hand print on my love's face?" she hissed.

"I smacked him. Do you want to match with him?" Shadow said sweetly. Everything about her right now was just so wrong.

**Can I wake up now?**

_Yes, and bring me with you._

"Honey, I'm the most important part of this plan, don't sass me," Annabell hissed, yanking the gag from my mouth.

"What plan? What the hell is going on?" I leaned closer to her ear. "What happened to our deal?"

Annabell looked at me and drew out the vial out of her pocket. She stood up and turned to Shadow. And _she lifted her arm and threw it._

"NO!" I shouted as it broke and splattered all over her arm. Shadow hissed and brushed the glass and liquid off her arm.

"What the FUCK?!" she spat at Annabell. Annabell smirked at me.

"If that was her expiration poison, her skin would be melting off," Annabell whispered, her voice with a hint of humor on it. I stared at where she threw it. It was just liquid that Shadow was brushing off. Her skin wasn't melting, she wasn't spazzing out.

My brain couldn't understand it for 2 seconds.

"So there wasn't any poison that could kill her," I said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. It was my mind trying to put things together. My stupid mind.

"No, that was just some different kind of poison that could just have her bug out, but not anything other than that," Annabell said, all smiles.

"You lied to me," I said again. Those words rang through the room. And Shadow stared at me, probably not caring.

She's gone.

I felt anger rush through my veins and me slowly losing control. Annabell started to talk about how she didn't technically _lie_ and how we still could be together. But the blood rushing drowned her out. Suddenly I was outside myself and I could feel Max turning the same way.

_They tricked us_.

**They'll pay.**

The ropes around our wrists and feet broke and I lunged for Annabell. She screamed as I started strangling her. Then someone grabbed me by the hair.

"Down boy, we have bigger fish to fry," Shadow said, yanking my shirt hard. I growled and shoved her. She was gone already, what was the point?

Shadow rolled her eyes and said, "Don't make me use force Hunter, I'm so not in the mood for it." I could feel the Cold Fury slipping away and looked around the room. Omega, Annabell and Beta was unconscious. Shadow and Fang exchanged a look and looked at us.

"You can't come with us," Fang said simply. Again, I was confused and this was annoying me.

"Go with you where Fang? What are you talking about?" Max asked, getting up. "I'm not in the mood for games."

"Omega has brothers and sisters, you probably already know. They're a part of this big plan to take over the world. The thing about this plan is that it's going to take a few years to train and stuff, but you can't come, neither of you," Fang said casually. I stared at him and I felt my sister getting mad.

"What the hell do you mean we can't go Fang?! I'm the Leader, I call the shots, deal with it!" She said stomping up to him. Shadow held up a hand.

"It's not that we're letting our personal feelings into this. Annabell has a power that she's been using on both of you these past few weeks," Shadow said. I felt my heart falling into my stomach.

"What is it now?" I felt my mouth moving to ask. I couldn't believe the last 10 minutes, this was just unbelievable.

"She can control your minds. It's not like Angel's power, she just had to be with you and Max for a while, which she was. But unlike Angel's power, her hold is so much more powerful. You can feel everything. Yet you can't control a thing. I'm not sure how far into your minds she is, but you're a danger to our mission," Shadow said, looking at Annabell's unconscious body in disgust. I couldn't believe this.

_This cannot be happening._

"So we're sitting ducks while you two play superman?" Max said, her voice angry. She hated being helpless, especially like this.

"Basically," Fang said, his one worded blunt self. He and Shadow exchanged a look and suddenly, he picked Annabell up.

"We need to bring her back, keep her away from them for as long as possible," Fang said to Shadow. She nodded and passed us. Max followed them.

"So what the hell are we supposed to do with Omega, Beta and Epsilon?" Max shouted.

"Kill them," was Fang's calm reply.

"WHAT!?" Max shouted in and out of my head. I winced but I thought the same thing. They want us to _kill_ them._ KILL_.

We followed them outside where Fang and Shadow were already ready to take off. I could feel the rest of the Flock behind us, with a bunch of questions.

"When will you be back?" I asked, my heart beating fast. I already knew the answer by the way Shadow's eyes met mine.

They might never be back.

And before Max could drag them down, before I or the rest of the Flock could protest, they were gone.

Gone.

-

_Weeks later…_

"We have to find them," Max said one day at the kitchen table. Everyone at the table went silent and Iggy looked down at this plate.

"Were do you think they'd go though? You'd think because they said we have a few years to train that they'd stay," he said, his long fingers tapping the table.

"Max, I know you don't want to hear this.." Dad started.

_There he goes…_

**Now I know where I get the occasional pessimism from.**

"They'll be fine. You know Fang. He can protect himself and Shadow," Jeb said. "But he did want you to do something. He wanted you to train for a few years and he wanted you to kill those three downstairs, which we did. They have a plan. They are more informed than us. We just need to do our part."

The phone rang and I got up to get it. The air was too thick with thinking and I had to distract myself from it.

_Why does he always have to be right?_

**I don't know, but it's irritating.**

I picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hunter, you have to help me," I heard Annabell say. I rolled my eyes. They had to put her somewhere where she had access to a phone.

"I'm going to hang up now."

"NO! THIS IS BIGGER THAN US! YOU HAVE TO HELP US!" Suddenly, fear clenched my throat.

"What do you mean by 'us'?" I said quickly.

The phone started cutting off. "Sha- nd Fang we- at th- and t- HURRY! We- time. Quick- THEY-"

A scream. Silence. Phone went dead. I felt the phone slip out of my hand and I looked and Max who was staring wide eyed at me.

"Caller ID?" she said weakly.

"What's wrong Hunter?" Mom said, in her no nonsense tone. "You're as white as a ghost."

My hands trembled as I re dialed the number. The phone rang and someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Don't ever call back." I heard a very familiar voice say. I turned around and looked at Jeb.

"How is Omega still alive?"

-

I looked down and saw Mom, Dad and Ella waving at us. I could still see my Dad, his face like stone, my mom crying and Ella just bawling, not wanting anyone, especially Max, Iggy or I to go.

But we needed to find Fang and Shadow.

We needed to find the rest of our Flock.

We needed to complete our soul.

**Me: Beh. Review :] I was think of making the next part a completely different story, but I don't want to xD Soooo, this chapter was choppy and weird, I know, but please, review, tell me everything, I'll try and write back and update ASAP =] **


	38. IMPORTANT Author's Note Final

**Me: Hey everyone. I am SOSOSOSOSO sorry for the amount of time it took me to update ****The Fallen Angels ****and this fic. I had AP classes last year and on top of that, I had this huge amount of retarded drama with "friends". So I think it was best I didn't update, because it probably would've came up on the fics and that would've been bad :/ And I know a lot of you got pissed at me and no longer wish to read the story and are not reviewing, or some just plain old left fanfiction. I do apologize, words can't express. And I know I'm not supposed to post Author's Notes in stories butttt this had to be done.**

**So, back to the important stuff. I posted The Fallen Angels, and I started to update this one. I re read it, and then I just want to edit the whole thing. I think that it's badly written, just because it was my first fic. This was not the direction I really want it to go in. I think Hunter and Shadow and the Flock could have a better storyline.**

**I started to edit this fic, and as I was about replace my chapter, when I realized **

**I'd have to rewrite everything to make sense**

**I'd have to delete all my old work**

**I decided not to because it shows how far I came. And also…I noticed how on FanFiction others like to copy one's work. I'm not going to accuse anyone. I'm not naming names. This fiction serves as a staple. Hunter and Shadow are mine. The concept of Cold Fury is mine. Annabell, Ghost, Chris Cass, Lies? All mine. If ANYONE accuses me of copying in my new fic, I'm pointing them in the direction of this one, which has been up since 2007. Try me.**

**So not to end this on a negative note, THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed this fiction. I love you guys, really for being so supportive and loving. I'm going to do better with this new fic because it is based off of this one anyway. I'm older and a tiny bit better at writing, so I hope you enjoy this next one! It will be called Wake.**

**: ) Adios, old fic, we'll miss you.**


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